7 tips to avoid age discrimination on your Resume
Should I put my age on my Resume?
Simply, there is no binary answer. In some countries, business culture expects the age of applicants to be known - some because of traditional thinking in terms of “this is what the resume has always contained”.
In other countries, age isn’t expected to be shown on the CV, but know that age sensitive hiring leaders will still work to figure out age either by directly asking recruiters who have visibly seen the job seeker, checking your passport on the pretext of ensuring your legal right to work in that country, or by making calculations based on early career history and/or education dates.
Either way, there is no doubt that age is frequently used as a screening tool. Some hiring leaders (and recruiters) have an expectation that only “older” workers are experienced enough to take on senior roles. Others believe that older workers don’t have the tech savvy, or the level of energy, or the willingness to learn new skills. Or maybe there’s a more valid perception around age bringing additional value, expertise and relate-ability to internal stakeholders and external customers who fall in similar age demographics.
In contrast, some hiring leaders (and recruiters) have a clear preference for recruiting an “up and coming” person in order to secure a cheaper hire, or to get more potential for “career runway” and duration of tenure - hiring someone planning retirement and knowing you’ll get 2 years of service at best can be deterrent to hiring someone who could potentially offer 20+ years of service (albeit many early career hires don’t stay as long as their hiring leaders might wish). Other hiring leaders just don’t want anyone more experienced than themselves as they’re perceived to be threats. And there is also the arguably more valid reasoning that a younger worker could bring diversity of thinking to an aged team, provide succession possibilities in the fullness of time, and be representative of other younger internal stakeholders and external customers.
How can we stop age discrimination?
We're often approached by HR leaders, with the request to review their CV's / Resumes; to provide support to make these documents "more compelling". This request is particularly frequent from folks who have been struggling to find their next career role.
Too often the request is accompanied with the frustration of being over 50 and apparently encountering ageism as part of an application process.
Yes, I hear you exclaiming “but age discrimination is illegal!” and of course you are correct. But in the real world, it happens every single day. And HR hiring execs are absolutely guilty of this, time and time again.
Part of the issue, is that in “recruitment agency land”, many of the staff are aged under 30. Certainly in the UK, many of those recruiters are fresh out of university. A similar age demographic applies within the internal recruitment teams of many corporations. To them, 50 is the equivalent of "ready for retirement".
I remember sitting with my then colleagues in a London office, and having one of them exclaim - look at this CV, this person has been working for 30 years, which is longer than I've been alive! This was met with sniggers and head nods from all present. Except me. When I stated that I too at that time had been working for 30 years, I was met with shocked faces.
Ageism absolutely exists and it too often starts with those recruitment gatekeepers. Interestingly, when I speak with business leaders, they're often unaware that the only CV's being presented to them are for "career runway" talent, rather than "been there, done it and got the tshirt" talent. They just assume that more experienced folk aren't interested and moan to me about how they wish they could find more mature professionals to hire.....
How do I hide my age on my resume?
Be careful on taking this route. You can “doctor” your CV so age is no longer a factor, but the moment an age sensitive recruiter or hiring leader sees you, and realises you’ve hidden 20 years of work history, you might find the meeting ends quickly on some pretext or other, and you’ll have simply wasted your time.
However, there are some creative elements you can utilise for your CV (without lying) that will certainly help you to get past the bunnies who do the initial screening in a hiring process. After all, in too many recruitment processes, the biggest challenge is getting past the CV sift, to the point where you can at least speak (and pitch) to a live person at the hiring company.
Don't include a photo. If you do, make sure it doesn't instantly date you (but also don't include a snap that is 20 years out of date - that is just fraudulent)
Don't include the dates of your degree / qualifications
For work done prior to say 1989 note only as Pre 1989 - "various roles after completing my studies" (or some such equivalent)
If you're including interests on your resume, don't include the things that will date you (eg: school governor, looking after grand children)
Make sure your LinkedIn page and any public domain published biographies or articles reflect this finessing
Close off your social media accounts to outside contacts - you don't want the recruitment bunny seeing your graduation pics with your 70's flares & afro hair
Target companies in your job search, who actually value age (often easy to tell after a little LinkedIn research on their staff in similar roles to whatever you’re applying for)
Of course, having a compelling Resume, that gives you the chance to pitch yourself in a screening call or interview, is just one element, and you’ll find further useful context here
About the Author
Tracey Thompson is well regarded within the industry for her ability to source and engage high performance HR talent. Over many years she has built a well deserved reputation for her uncanny ability to access proverbial “purple squirrel” HR specialists and as a result, is looked to as a global sourcing subject matter expert.