I'm 55. I've been applying since I was laid off and I'm yet to get an interview. All the jobs I applied for I'm either qualified or overqualified for. I don't understand what's going on, other than maybe my age being a deterrent. Are others having similar issues or is this just my problem?
2 replies (most recent on top)
@OP says, "I'm yet to get an interview."
If that's really the case then it couldn't possibly be age discrimination unless you're volunteering info you shouldn't be on an application. It sounds like you may be just falling victim to the process unfortunately. Working with recruiters is FAR better than relying on just putting in apps. I must have put in 110 when I was out of work, and barely got a nibble.
You may have to take a bit of a salary cut, unless you're in management or a high level tech spot. Can't expect a max-range salary as you begin anew with someone else.
I'll help you though. The applications? They aren't as good as having recruiters contact you. Get LinkedIn premium, even if you only keep it a couple months (that's what I did) and make sure you list all your experience and skills, using all of the relevant industry buzzwords for your role. This will get you through the ATS companies use when searching, and if you have any marketable skills at all you should start getting calls from recruiters. Once this happened for me, I was interviewing left and right, and within a couple weeks had competing offers! (54 here. Trust me, if you have marketable skills and know your craft there's still plenty of work out there)
It is called age discrimination. They want someone young and cheap. They want someone is willing to work beyond 40 hours per week. They want someone single with no family commitments. By law they are not supposed to do this, but they do it anyway. Also, this is something hard to prove.
I remember years ago my friend and I had interviewed at some big silicon valley company, and the guy passed the tech and people interview. However, we were told by our manager he was too old and has family. Interview more people who are younger and who have less family commitments. We were thinking how messed this was, and this will probably happen to us in the future.
If you do get an interview, dye or shave your head. This worked for some older engineer friends of ours. Also, don't mention too much about your family. Stay on topic related to work and people skills during the interview.