• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

512-693-7132

Packages   About   Testimonials

Career Pivot

Career Pivot

Repurpose your career. Pivot now.

  • Get Started
  • Books
    • Repurpose Your Career
    • Personal Branding for Baby Boomers
    • Repurpose Your Career 2019 Book Launch
  • Podcast
    • Career Pivot Interviews
    • Interviews with Career Experts
    • Repurpose Your Career Audio Book
    • Repurpose Your Career Series
    • Becoming an Expat
    • Question and Answer
    • Other Topics
  • Blog
    • Life and Careers in the 2nd Half of Life
    • Ageism
    • Career and Industry Disruption
    • Career Success in the 2nd Half of Life
    • Career Pivot
    • COVID-19 Pandemic
    • Job Search
    • Entrepreneurship in the 2nd Half of Life
    • Encore Careers
    • Social Media
    • Networking
  • Community
  • Resources
  • Expat
  • Contact

Get Career Pivot Insights

Job Search Ageism: What You Need to Know

Job Search Agism

ageismAgeism is a fact of life.

Let’s look at what ageism really is. According to Dictionary.com, the definition of ageism is as follows:

A tendency to regard older persons as debilitated, unworthy of attention, or unsuitable for employment.

I define employment ageism as being perceived as unable to do a job due to health, appearance, or skills.

Notice I said perceived as unable to do a job. Often, our perceptions are our realities.

Automobile Ageism

I just traded in my 2003 Honda Element DX, which I had owned for 13 years and 130,000 miles. My Honda experienced discrimination due to its age.

The dealer looked at three things to determine its value:

  • Mechanics (health)
  • Appearance
  • Features (skills)

The mechanics were in pretty good shape. I maintained it well, but…it had the original clutch and brakes. I am easy on a car!

The appearance was okay, with a few exceptions. It had no dents or dings, but the front seat was worn out and the windshield was cracked. A rock chipped the windshield and I did not repair it quickly enough. Because of this, a crack formed quickly and went across the entire window. It did not affect my vision, so I left it. It was like that for years.

The salesman told me that the car showed its age. Yes, the car was 14 years old with 130,000 miles.

Repurpose Your Career Podcast

Listen to the most recent episode

The car was not feature-rich. It was a base model with a 5-speed manual transmission. I had done nothing to upgrade the vehicle, like adding a stereo, seat covers, steering wheel cover, or anything else.

The vehicle showed its age and it experienced ageism. I was offered less on the trade-in because it was perceived as being old.

See where I am going with this?

Ageism in the 2nd Half of Life

When we reach the 2nd half of life, we may experience age discrimination or ageism. Ageism is the perception that we are old and not capable of doing the job. In some cases, the perception is that we may be too expensive.

Health

Just like my Honda, we are judged based on our health. This is how we walk, our weight, hair color (or lack of hair), or our general physical demeanor. If we look old, many will judge us and wonder whether we can keep up.

My boss at my last corporate gig told me that the trainer I was trying to hire “did not have the energy he wanted.” This was code for “too old.” The person I was trying to hire was approximately the same age as me. He was a bit overweight and had a bit of gray hair, but nothing extreme—a classic case of ageism that was based on my boss’s perception of the individual.

I resigned several months later.

Appearance

How you dress and carry yourself is very important. I have an image consultant who picks out all of my new clothes. I admit I have no taste in clothes.

When I hired her to evaluate colors for me, she did a wardrobe evaluation and eliminated over half of my clothes. By the way, this made my wife VERY HAPPY.

When I worked at my first tech startup in 2000, I was one in a group of 4 people out of 100 employees who were over 40 years of age. I depended on the young engineers who worked directly with the customers to feed information to me for my training program. Therefore, I came to work in t-shirts and jeans. They treated me like a peer and not as a manager. I managed their perceptions by how I dressed.

You will be perceived by how you dress. I have a client who is in her late 50s, who interviewed for a position with a hedge fund manager. She did not ask about the dress code before the interview. She showed up dressed in a very conservative business suit. The hedge fund manager, who was in her early 30s wore torn blue jeans. To say the least, she did not get the job.

Skills

We are hired for our skills. Just like my Honda, in which I did not invest any upgrades, if you do not invest in learning new skills, you will likely face discrimination. Most of the time, you will not be considered for a position without these skills, even though you could easily learn them on the job.

Companies no longer wish to train their employees. It is the employee’s responsibility to maintain their skills. This has been a major shift in the last 10 to 20 years.

Ageism – What Now?

The easiest way to combat ageism is to focus on your health, appearance, and skills before you ever experience ageism.

Lead a healthy lifestyle. Yeah…we all know we should do this.

Dress appropriately. If you need help as I do, then get help.

Maintain your skills. Make sure you know your industry trends. Make sure that your skills are up to date and that, if there is a shift coming, you anticipate it. Sometimes, this is easier said than done, but if you want to stay employed, you need to keep abreast of changes.

Okay, you are experiencing ageism. You are perceived to be old and unable to do the job.

You should focus on your health, appearance, and skills—but not necessarily in that order.

Identify which area you should first focus on by asking your peers. You need to get honest feedback on where to begin. It is not about what you think, but what they think!

My last tech startup left me worn out. I looked old when I resigned! I have since been focusing on my health by eating right, getting exercise, seeing my chiropractor regularly, and monitoring my health.

My health was the #1 issue, and I have been focusing on it.

What is the #1 issue that is causing you job search ageism? 

Marc Miller  

Like What Your Read? Get Career Pivot Insights

Do You Need Help With ...

Check out our Help Center where you have access to 14 different content portals.

Category iconAge Discrimination

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Diane says

    July 13, 2016 at 11:41 am

    Yes, there is age discrimination in all areas, not just careers. Perception is everything, although perception is relative. Interesting observation, so what do you suggest can be done with humans who are restricted in their perception and awareness that what they see may not be what they expect?

    • Marc Miller says

      July 13, 2016 at 12:48 pm

      Perceptions are exactly that perceptions and not based on reality. You can change people’s perceptions by developing relationships and dispelling those perceptions.

      Marc

  2. Trish Saunders says

    March 27, 2017 at 3:13 pm

    There are hurdles to overcome whenever we reach out to someone for an interview, a sales pitch, anything. What works for me is to break the taboo about age. While a prospective employer knows better than to bring up age; a candidate can say anything she wants to about herself. ‘ve brought up my experience level without fanfare, as a “by the way” as something I’m happy about.

    It’s an opportunity to dispel any myths that baby boomers are overqualified, or feel over entitled, or are slow adopters. The strongest, most effective workplace will have a mix of employees of different ages and backgrounds. I strongly advocate bringing up during an interview how highly you value the opportunity to work with people of all backgrounds.

    I find this a very interesting topic and I appreciate ether opportunity to comment.

Primary Sidebar

Are you ready to take control of your career?
Are you ready to stop reacting and start planning what is next?

 

Join Career Pivot

For those who want to fall in love with their work again, redeploy their experience and skills into a new career, and prudently make a shift, Marc Miller’s strategic guidance is a pathway to success.

Kerry Hannon, author of Never Too Old To Get Rich: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting a Business Mid-Life

Available on Amazon.com and other fine retailers

Blog Categories

  • Age Discrimination (19)
  • Becoming an Expat (40)
  • Career and Industry Disruption (34)
  • Career Pivot (92)
  • Career Success in the 2nd Half of Life (106)
  • COVID-19 Pandemic (32)
  • Encore Careers (16)
  • Entrepreneurship in the 2nd Half of Life (16)
  • Job Search (108)
  • Life and Careers in the 2nd Half of Life (61)
  • Networking (32)
  • Podcasts (303)
    • Podcast – Becoming an Expat (28)
    • Podcast – Career Pivoter (58)
    • Podcast – Expert (152)
    • Podcast – Other (20)
    • Podcast – Question and Answer (18)
    • Podcast – Repurpose Your Career Book (18)
    • Podcast – Repurpose Your Career Series (16)
  • Retirement (14)
  • Social Media (14)
  • Survey Results (17)
  • The Multi-Generational Workplace (20)

Popular Posts

  • What If You Are Not Passionate About Anything? [Updated] (367,473)
  • College Degree After 50 – Is It Worth It? It… (130,755)
  • Talents versus Skills – Do you know the difference? (127,228)
  • Are you a Multipotentialite? (64,666)
  • What is Your Current Salary? How to Answer! [Updated] (63,671)
  • Perfect Fit for the Position? Expect to Lose! [Updated] (46,844)
  • Who is Really Making the Hiring Decision? [Updated] (43,048)
  • How Long Will My Job Search Take? Longer Than You… (40,875)
  • Dealing with that Directionless Feeling [Updated] (28,293)
  • 3 Steps to Get the Hiring Manager or Recruiter to Respond (27,658)
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

© Marc Miller and Associates, LLC 2012-2019 ~ All Rights Reserved | A Standard Beagle Website | Read Our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions