4 ms·

Since it is not legal for employers to require you to give your age as part of an application, doesn't this simply encourage candidates to lie about their age?

Since it is not legal for employers to require you to give your age as part of an application, doesn't this simply encourage candidates to lie about their age? One way that age is given away on resumes is to look at work history or date of college graduation. In lieu of the current situation, is it not advisable to simply not give the date of graduation and only provide the previous 5-10 years of work experience on resume? It isn't a perfect approach, but it makes it more difficult to discriminate since by the time you have a face-to-face interview with the employer you are already well along in the interview process.

tootie 9y ago
If you list enough experience or your college dates, it can be inferred.
- ClassyJacket 9y ago
  I think that's what they were referring to by saying "In lieu of the current situation, is it not advisable to simply not give the date of graduation and only provide the previous 5-10 years of work experience on resume?" It seems like the point is you might be better off not listing university years or more than 5 years of experience, so your age cannot be inferred before they talk to you. Of course, 90% of people will have social media accounts that will make this useless if the employer tries hard enough.
  - tootie 9y ago
    I'm a actually going to start scrubbing my LinkedIn and resume and see what happens.
    - dep_b 9y ago
      I'm working remotely for a startup where my bosses are 25. When I stepped into the office in person for the first time they immediately commented they didn't expect me to be this old. Probably wouldn't hire me if they knew they had to manage somebody 15 years older. Graduated 5 years ago. Didn't list any experience longer than 10 years ago because I didn't want anyone to think I was actually going to do Java and PHP every in my life. Age: almost 40. Thinking about doing a master and hiding my bachelor once I have it, it'll probably help ;)
a3n 9y ago
I drop pretty heavy clues in my resume to indicate that I'm old. I don't want to waste time on the email or the phone screen, just to walk in and get rejected because I have grey hair (and have to sit through awkward meetings for half a day). If you're going to reject me because of age, I'd rather you do it on your own time.
brooklyn_ashey 9y ago
It is difficult to hide your age. LinkedIn makes it impossible. If you want to be competitive, you need to share your accomplishments. If they are actual accomplishments, they are Gooogleable in a simple search anyhow. Hiding your age by leaving off dates says, "Hey! I'm old enough to hide my grad dates!" (which means you are now over 30) This culture is not helping itself. We all need to find the bravery to stand up against this at every age, because, I hate to break it, every person under 30 on this forum will be over 40 before they know it. I sure hope it finds them at the very tippy top of their career game. Our economy doesn't look great right now. Best of luck finding that chair before the hip-hop stops.
- zeckalpha 9y ago
  I am under 30 and do not list my graduation date.
  - brooklyn_ashey 9y ago
    you may want to start listing it and take advantage of the ageism in your favor while you can. :) I had a 28 year old friend who was getting botox a few years ago. I could not believe it; they looked so young to me. They told me I didn't understand how bad it had gotten in NYC. I thought they were nuts. Now I see why they were freaking out. This climate is so unhealthy. If we thought we had real problems with body image and eating disorders--- I fear the level and scope of mental illness this kind of youth-loss anxiety tech bro culture will deliver unto us as time passes and we do nothing. This plus body image plus some of the social issues that come these plus drugs plus work only social circles seems like a recipe for a kind of health crisis epidemic that---- we totally see this coming and are doing nothing about it. In fact, we are still convincing many of our own on this very forum that its even a problem even as Chinese workers are facing overworking themselves to death as a health crisis.
    - zeckalpha 9y ago
      Thanks for the advice, and it may hold true in some markets but in my market I've been seeing ageism affect the young, too.
coldtea 9y ago
>Since it is not legal for employers to require you to give your age as part of an application, doesn't this simply encourage candidates to lie about their age? Doesn't matter since when they'll interview you they'll find out you're not 20something -- unless you have exceptional genes. Not to mention a few Google or FB searches and they'll not only have your age, but more than the FBI had on a target citizen in the days of Hoover.

tootie 9y ago

If you list enough experience or your college dates, it can be inferred.

ClassyJacket 9y ago
I think that's what they were referring to by saying "In lieu of the current situation, is it not advisable to simply not give the date of graduation and only provide the previous 5-10 years of work experience on resume?" It seems like the point is you might be better off not listing university years or more than 5 years of experience, so your age cannot be inferred before they talk to you. Of course, 90% of people will have social media accounts that will make this useless if the employer tries hard enough.
- tootie 9y ago
  I'm a actually going to start scrubbing my LinkedIn and resume and see what happens.
  - dep_b 9y ago
    I'm working remotely for a startup where my bosses are 25. When I stepped into the office in person for the first time they immediately commented they didn't expect me to be this old. Probably wouldn't hire me if they knew they had to manage somebody 15 years older. Graduated 5 years ago. Didn't list any experience longer than 10 years ago because I didn't want anyone to think I was actually going to do Java and PHP every in my life. Age: almost 40. Thinking about doing a master and hiding my bachelor once I have it, it'll probably help ;)

a3n 9y ago

I drop pretty heavy clues in my resume to indicate that I'm old. I don't want to waste time on the email or the phone screen, just to walk in and get rejected because I have grey hair (and have to sit through awkward meetings for half a day). If you're going to reject me because of age, I'd rather you do it on your own time.

brooklyn_ashey 9y ago

It is difficult to hide your age. LinkedIn makes it impossible. If you want to be competitive, you need to share your accomplishments. If they are actual accomplishments, they are Gooogleable in a simple search anyhow. Hiding your age by leaving off dates says, "Hey! I'm old enough to hide my grad dates!" (which means you are now over 30) This culture is not helping itself. We all need to find the bravery to stand up against this at every age, because, I hate to break it, every person under 30 on this forum will be over 40 before they know it. I sure hope it finds them at the very tippy top of their career game. Our economy doesn't look great right now. Best of luck finding that chair before the hip-hop stops.

zeckalpha 9y ago
I am under 30 and do not list my graduation date.
- brooklyn_ashey 9y ago
  you may want to start listing it and take advantage of the ageism in your favor while you can. :) I had a 28 year old friend who was getting botox a few years ago. I could not believe it; they looked so young to me. They told me I didn't understand how bad it had gotten in NYC. I thought they were nuts. Now I see why they were freaking out. This climate is so unhealthy. If we thought we had real problems with body image and eating disorders--- I fear the level and scope of mental illness this kind of youth-loss anxiety tech bro culture will deliver unto us as time passes and we do nothing. This plus body image plus some of the social issues that come these plus drugs plus work only social circles seems like a recipe for a kind of health crisis epidemic that---- we totally see this coming and are doing nothing about it. In fact, we are still convincing many of our own on this very forum that its even a problem even as Chinese workers are facing overworking themselves to death as a health crisis.
  - zeckalpha 9y ago
    Thanks for the advice, and it may hold true in some markets but in my market I've been seeing ageism affect the young, too.

coldtea 9y ago

>Since it is not legal for employers to require you to give your age as part of an application, doesn't this simply encourage candidates to lie about their age? Doesn't matter since when they'll interview you they'll find out you're not 20something -- unless you have exceptional genes. Not to mention a few Google or FB searches and they'll not only have your age, but more than the FBI had on a target citizen in the days of Hoover.