Tackling Age Discrimination in Your Job Hunt

What Is Age Discrimination?

Age discrimination is when applicants are passed over due to their age, regardless of their qualifications or experience. Despite laws that protect against discrimination based on age, it still occurs in hiring practices. Age discrimination most often affects older applicants, but it can also hurt younger ones as well. It is commonly found in policies that favor recent grads or those with minimal experience.

Recognizing Age Discrimination

Recognizing age discrimination is important for job seekers of any age. Subtle signs can help you to identify when age discrimination may be taken place in a hiring process. Keep a watchful eye for red flags like any recruiter discussing your age or your qualifications in terms of your age. Questions to determine if a recruiter is interested in age-based criteria will help you notice these red flags. Examples include, “How old are you?” or “How many years have you been in the workforce?”

How to Combat Age Discrimination

While there is no single solution to combat age discrimination, there are several tactics job seekers can leverage. One trick is to adjust your resume to focus on transferable skills instead of years of experience. Going back to school or taking online courses can also update your resume if you are feeling to out of practice or have obtained skills that are not yet prevalent in the market. Lastly, making yourself more visible helps. Networking amongst peers or tapping into online networks will help recruiters find you and increase your chances of getting hired.

The Benefits of Avoiding Age Discrimination

Having employers recognize your talent and skills outweighs your age is something to strive for. Those free from age discrimination have more job opportunities and a competitive advantage. This leads to more money coming in for a better lifestyle as well as more job satisfaction. New experiences, learning new skills, and growing in a career field provides a higher quality of life.

Conclusion

Age discrimination still exists in hiring practices, but job seekers can actively work to prevent and recognize it. Keeping a watchful eye for signs of discrimination and tweaking resumes to focus on skills instead of years of experience can help job seekers level the playing field. At the end of the day, overcoming age discrimination puts job seekers at an advantage with more competitive job opportunities, higher earning potential, and new experiences.