Giving my age away to potential employers = not a good idea

[sugarplumkitty]

Last night I dropped by the home of an old high school friend to drop off her yearbooks. She'd given them to me to scan some pictures she wanted and I finally got them back to her. We chatted for a few minutes about employment. She's going to be jobless in May because her contract is running out and they're cutting back. Neither of us looks 50. That's a bonus. It's hard to get hired when you're 50. People want younger workers. It's not fair, but it's fact.

I woke up this morning realizing my resume listed every job I've had since age 21. D'Oh!

I'm now going through all the places I've got it posted and I'm removing the non-programmer years. They don't need to know that. Supposedly, you're supposed to list the last ten years. They do want to know when you graduated from college so that's going to make me at least 35 in their eyes. 35 is better than 50.

I wonder if that's why I've had so few nibbles?

Comments

[finickynarcane.livejournal.com]

You can leave the date off your college degree, too.

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

Good to know. So many online applications have a box for it that I assumed they could ask it.

[seekingsartre.livejournal.com]

Yes, remove ANYTHING from your resume that would indicate your age. This includes when you graduated college, high school, anything that would date you.

I used to be in HR, so just keep in mind that they CANNOT ask how old you are, or any questions related to it (ie, when did you graduate, etc.)

Good luck to you! I just know you are going to find something perfect!

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

When I graduated is off limits? Wow. Then why do so many online forms require it?

[seekingsartre.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I felt so firm when I said it!

Now that I think about it, I think that they CAN ask about college and trade schools, but not about high schools. Ergh. I just always tried to be as hands off about age as I could.

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'm wrong and it's optional. I'm going through my online resumes again and removing my graduation date, not that it will matter that much since my last two jobs cover 16 years