Getting ever closer to 50, this gives me the heebie jeebies.
Can’t wait to experience this…
“Once you get into your early 50s, folks really begin to feel that their
age is … a negative factor in that hiring decision,” said Marc Cenedella, president of TheLadders.com, an online job board focused on positions that pay $100,000 or more. “
I’ve experienced HR managers that had attitudes about their jobs that it takes only a very small leap of faith to imagine them going through this thought process…
“Not only do I hear it from the candidates, I hear it from [human resources] managers who should know better,” said Renee Ward, founder of Seniors4Hire.org, an online job resource board for older Americans. See the Web site.
At a recent conference, Ward asked a question of some personnel managers: If you posted a job requiring three to five years’ experience, would you deny the job to a candidate with 10 years’ experience solely because ofthose extra years?
The consensus was yes, she said. “An older person can’t do this job,” a 30-something manager at a perfume company told Ward. “She was just blatant about it,” Ward said, noting that three other people at the table agreed with the manager.
and who knew your High School graduation date would come in “so handy”???
Klos felt confident about one prospect recently. He’d met with seven people, including a top executive, and the company was talking to him about salary and start date.
But in the middle of a day of meetings, the hiring managers abruptly asked Klos to complete an application form, and specifically directed him to include his high school graduation date.The job offer dried up within 24 hours. Klos believes it was because of the gap between his college and high school grad dates, four years longer than other job applicants’ because of his time in the military.
Later, he mentioned the story to his daughter, who had recently completed a personnel-management course at her firm.
“I talked about the abrupt demand” for graduation dates, Klos said. “Her jaw dropped open. She said ‘Oh my God, they just taught us to do that.'”
In her management course, Klos’ daughter was told to insist on high school graduation dates on application forms. “This is our vehicle for making sure that you don’t inadvertently hire older employees,” Klos’ daughter was told by her company.
The only bright side is in the big picture there aren’t enough young employees, however outsourcing may take up the slack. We live in interesting times is about the best I can say!
