Too Old To Work

Ageism is a real element preventing many qualified candidates from getting hired. The impetus behind ageist behaviors is the same as every other form of discrimination. People want to hire and to work with people who are like them. Ageism happens when hiring managers feel like the candidate cannot relate to the current lifestyles of the majority of their team.

Be youthful to avoid discrimination.

Unlike more nefarious forms of discrimination, many aspects driving ageism can be remedied. As an “experienced” candidate about to interview, practice the following approaches to fit in with your potential new boss and co-workers. The first interviews are commonly telephone calls versus in-person meetings. Controlling impressions regarding age are easier on a call.

How old are you?

Legally, questions about age cannot be asked in an interview. If someone slips up and asks, ignore the question. Related questions that are digging at the age, such as graduation dates or favorite team, movie, television show from your youth should also be ignored. Deflect by asking a question regarding the position, or simply move forward by extolling the skills you would bring to the role.

Focus on Recent Work Experience

Keep all of your professional references within the most recent ten years. Recent accomplishments are the only ones to highlight during an interview.

Avoid old references such as “I remember when….” A temptation is to give the complete history of the development of a practice common today. For example, everyone has likely used some form of live meeting software, live streaming of a presentation and a personal video call. Your interview may be held on one of these platforms.

Avoid a trip back to pioneering practices, such as, “I remember when we had video conference calls with the remote team. We all had to gather in the conference room, the satellite link was established with the distant team and we spoke in order around the table. It’s so much easier today. I mean people sit at home wearing pajama bottoms.”

Avoid Disparaging Remarks About Today’s Practices

In the previous example about video meetings, the mention of not being dressed professionally when connecting from home suggests a lack of respect.

Disparaging remarks about how things are done today often begin with “We used to….” For example, “We used to take the time to listen to customers. Now they are directed to self-service with AI-driven chats. I guess they are getting the help they need. It’s just less personal.”

Another criticism that may slip out is about how teams work together, then versus now. For instance, “We met daily until that project was done. Daily updates. In-person accountability. We didn’t have these programs, we had real accountability. During the project, we also enjoyed lunch together on Fridays. Working lunches. We got so much done over burgers and fries.”

If you are stuck in the past, why not just admit, “I’m like a delicate antique chair. Don’t sit on me too roughly or I will collapse.”

The increase in productivity you drove by redesigning a workflow fifteen or twenty years ago doesn’t apply today. The systems have changed. Workflows may be automated. More important, the way co-workers think about working on a team has changed.

Replace the way-back machine statements with questions about how the team works today. “Which systems are you using? What does your schedule look like? Are expectations for responses limited to Monday through Friday or are we expected to respond to the notice on our phones within minutes?”

Leave Past Glories in the Past

In the good ole boys network of regional sales, there still exist those who believe their NCAA trophy, their Olympic qualifier, or their long-since-broken athletic record is worthy of consideration in a job interview. While building rapport may include sharing some more personal details, keep those references current. No one cares if you were number one in your class decades ago. If you are old enough to be interested in reading this article, you probably remember Janet Jackson’s 1986 hit, “What Have You Done for Me Lately?”

Youthful athletic glories are not the only topics to avoid in an interview, if you don’t want ageism to be a factor. Another form of past glories is to recount “My best job ever was just out of college. I was selected, chosen, given the opportunity to, and achieved the most in that first job.” It’s clear that no job since has measured up. The current opportunity will also fail to meet the high-expectations that were set just out of college. No employer wants to compete with a memory of great past success.

It is better to replace has-been memories with current accomplishments. Good statements start with recent references such as “Last year for another consecutive year, I exceeded quotas.” Another, “Recently, I was recognized as an exceptional leader of our team (or project).” You might even share, “My bonus exceeded the standard practice of #%.”

Coasters Belong Under Drinks, Not in a Professional Career

Long-term employees often find themselves victims of coasting along. It may have seemed easier to adjust to a changing workplace by keeping your head down and just doing what has been asked. Faced with a layoff, the self-review of coasting along reveals, “I’ve done nothing notable for the past decade, but in my first position, I excelled….”

No employer wants to hire someone who has just collected a paycheck for several years.

If you did your job, even while keeping your head low, you have accomplishments. Those accomplishments are not beneath you, you have been doing them for several years. While it is positive to be aspirational about your next role, you must also recognize that employers are seeking relevant recent experiences.

To craft accomplishments from your recent experience ask yourself, “How many? How often? With whom?” Probing questions may also lead you to describe any projects you might have been a part of within the past five years.

How many dollars did I spend? How many customers did I help per day? How often was my performance evaluated? With whom did I work? Was I acknowledged for exceptional performance? These questions should lead to interview statements like, “With no direct reports, I was the influential leader of a system upgrade that included researching, testing, and selecting a $#M system. I worked closely with over a dozen business owners from finance, operations, customer service and sales.”

It's unfortunate if you are not proud of recent experiences, but examples taken from thirty, twenty or even ten years ago, put you in the ‘too old to be hired’ category.

Be Positive about Today’s Potential

If the interviewer enjoys talking and explaining, take their lead. Ask positive questions about the expectations of the role. Be enthusiastic about what they are presenting.

Ban negative thinking about only settling for a perfect situation. Your thoughts are things and are subtly perceived by others. If you enter an interview thinking, “I just want a paycheck for a few more years until retirement”, your intention will be apparent in your words and presentation.

Instead, enter an interview thinking, “This could be a sincere opportunity to finish out my career on a high note.”

Remedy Ageism

No one under the age of forty wants to hire their parent or worse their grandparent for a position. Be relevant to today by discussing recent accomplishments, by avoiding disparaging remarks about how things are done today, by leaving past glories in the past, and by having a positive outlook about the opportunity.

While ageism is a real issue, it is made worse by those candidates who live in the distant past. Be relevant today. Discuss today’s issues and today’s potentials. Consider that the future may be better than the past.

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