5 ms·

Absolutely not. I hire engineers, for myself and others, and the last thing I want to know is how old you are. Are they insane? I can't think of an easier way t

Absolutely not. I hire engineers, for myself and others, and the last thing I want to know is how old you are. Are they insane? I can't think of an easier way to set yourself up for an age discrimination lawsuit. Also, for third party recruiting, I've never asked for anything related to an SSN. The hiring company may ask for that for a background check, if it is contingent on an offer, but not from me. I'm wondering if this another situation where the recruiter is not in the country the job is in, because someone wanted to pay pennies on the dollar.

blunte 10y ago
FYI, it's legal to ask for age in Europe. And in any case, if you give your bachelor's completion date, they can do the math to approximate for most people.
- cm2187 10y ago
  I don't think it is legal in the UK. I mean it might not be illegal as such, but it would make the employer a sitting duck in an age discrimination lawsuit.
  - bshimmin 10y ago
    In the UK, it is "against the law" (from the "Overview" page) to discriminate by asking for a DOB: https://www.gov.uk/employer-preventing-discrimination/recruitment https://www.gov.uk/employer-preventing-discrimination/recrui...
    - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
      That page says discrimination during recruiting "may" be illegal, and that you "shouldn't" discriminate on age. It should say "is" and "mustn't" if it's certainly against the law. My main problem with gov.uk is this fault to make clear the position of its advice in respect of the law, IMO it should link the appropriate legislation/caselaw as citations to prove the position it contends.
      - daurnimator 10y ago
        It is okay to discriminate for some jobs if the position requires it e.g. you can't be a bar tender if you're < 18.
        pbhjpbhj 10y ago
        You can't work full-time under 16yo, so all jobs require age verification??
- teddythetwig 10y ago
  In The Netherlands it is extremely common for applicants to put a picture of themselves on their resume... I find this pretty messed up.
staticelf 10y ago
One fucked up thing about my home country Sweden is that it's totally legal with age discrimination and even the state is doing it all the time. For example, at specific jobs in the government you get extra holidays if you're above a certain age. Why they think older people deserve more holiday is beyond me. It has nothing to do with how long you've worked there since a 29 year old that has worked there in 10 years wouldn't get as much vacation as a 40-year old that recently was hired. It has nothing to do with experience. Just age. I can say as a young developer, I have felt this age thing several times at companies. They just don't give you the same salary or take you as serious because of the age. It doesn't matter how skilled you are or how much value you provide to the company.
- geomark 10y ago
  That's kind of interesting, sort of reverse age discrimination. Although, does that mean they tend to prefer younger hires since they will take less time off work?
  - gcp 10y ago
    does that mean they tend to prefer younger hires since they will take less time off work? Yes, that's usually how that works. Note also the salary aspect the OP already pointed out: they can get away with paying a younger person less, because this discrimination is industry wide and extremely entrenched.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- eveningcoffee 10y ago
  Salary discrimination looks like a different issue. But again, you should worry more if it was reversed as you can see that your life experience is valued and not regarded as wasted. But I do not consider this healthy for the society if the disparity is too big. It is hard for me to say if this is justified. Perhaps you could talk with more people about this (in neutral manner) and see why is it actually like this?
- 10y ago

blunte 10y ago

FYI, it's legal to ask for age in Europe. And in any case, if you give your bachelor's completion date, they can do the math to approximate for most people.

cm2187 10y ago
I don't think it is legal in the UK. I mean it might not be illegal as such, but it would make the employer a sitting duck in an age discrimination lawsuit.
- bshimmin 10y ago
  In the UK, it is "against the law" (from the "Overview" page) to discriminate by asking for a DOB: https://www.gov.uk/employer-preventing-discrimination/recruitment https://www.gov.uk/employer-preventing-discrimination/recrui...
  - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
    That page says discrimination during recruiting "may" be illegal, and that you "shouldn't" discriminate on age. It should say "is" and "mustn't" if it's certainly against the law. My main problem with gov.uk is this fault to make clear the position of its advice in respect of the law, IMO it should link the appropriate legislation/caselaw as citations to prove the position it contends.
    - daurnimator 10y ago
      It is okay to discriminate for some jobs if the position requires it e.g. you can't be a bar tender if you're < 18.
      - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
        You can't work full-time under 16yo, so all jobs require age verification??
teddythetwig 10y ago
In The Netherlands it is extremely common for applicants to put a picture of themselves on their resume... I find this pretty messed up.

staticelf 10y ago

One fucked up thing about my home country Sweden is that it's totally legal with age discrimination and even the state is doing it all the time. For example, at specific jobs in the government you get extra holidays if you're above a certain age. Why they think older people deserve more holiday is beyond me. It has nothing to do with how long you've worked there since a 29 year old that has worked there in 10 years wouldn't get as much vacation as a 40-year old that recently was hired. It has nothing to do with experience. Just age. I can say as a young developer, I have felt this age thing several times at companies. They just don't give you the same salary or take you as serious because of the age. It doesn't matter how skilled you are or how much value you provide to the company.

geomark 10y ago
That's kind of interesting, sort of reverse age discrimination. Although, does that mean they tend to prefer younger hires since they will take less time off work?
- gcp 10y ago
  does that mean they tend to prefer younger hires since they will take less time off work? Yes, that's usually how that works. Note also the salary aspect the OP already pointed out: they can get away with paying a younger person less, because this discrimination is industry wide and extremely entrenched.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
eveningcoffee 10y ago
Salary discrimination looks like a different issue. But again, you should worry more if it was reversed as you can see that your life experience is valued and not regarded as wasted. But I do not consider this healthy for the society if the disparity is too big. It is hard for me to say if this is justified. Perhaps you could talk with more people about this (in neutral manner) and see why is it actually like this?
10y ago