Comment I can say that at 46... (Score 1) 918
I've run into this problem several times.
About a year and a half ago while looking for work, I found that on many of my interviews a noticeable change in my interviewer happened when they asked me to verify my age. I learned a long time ago that when sending out my resume to leave off dates and any mention of the year. I always left things kind of vague, stating that I was there for 6 years or 8 years, just never listed the actual year. I've never looked my age so I always had that going for me. On several occasions I was in the interview and told that I had all the right qualifications for the job and just needed to fill out the actual application. Time and again I was told that "it was just a formality" and that after some higher-up saw my resume and my skill set I'd be offered a job.
After handing back the filled application I'd wait to see the visible change in my interviewer when they got to the line where you had to fill in your birth date. Then I'd have to ask if there was a problem, be told there wasn't, and go home never to hear back from them again. After the sixth or seventh time I started writing the numbers badly enough to mistake a 6 for an 8, taking 20 years off my age. The very first time I did this, I didn't see the interviewer change attitude, and I got the offer by phone about 3 days later. I didn't take that first offer due to another interview happening the next day and being given the offer while still in the interview.
It took a couple of days after being on the job before the mix-up of the numbers became known. I still have that job after a year and a half, and my employer has been very thankful in both wage and compliments ever since. Face it, if you've got the skills and can show that you're the right person for the job then age doesn't matter. But you might have to help nudge things along by writing a little sloppy.
-Goran
About a year and a half ago while looking for work, I found that on many of my interviews a noticeable change in my interviewer happened when they asked me to verify my age. I learned a long time ago that when sending out my resume to leave off dates and any mention of the year. I always left things kind of vague, stating that I was there for 6 years or 8 years, just never listed the actual year. I've never looked my age so I always had that going for me. On several occasions I was in the interview and told that I had all the right qualifications for the job and just needed to fill out the actual application. Time and again I was told that "it was just a formality" and that after some higher-up saw my resume and my skill set I'd be offered a job.
After handing back the filled application I'd wait to see the visible change in my interviewer when they got to the line where you had to fill in your birth date. Then I'd have to ask if there was a problem, be told there wasn't, and go home never to hear back from them again. After the sixth or seventh time I started writing the numbers badly enough to mistake a 6 for an 8, taking 20 years off my age. The very first time I did this, I didn't see the interviewer change attitude, and I got the offer by phone about 3 days later. I didn't take that first offer due to another interview happening the next day and being given the offer while still in the interview.
It took a couple of days after being on the job before the mix-up of the numbers became known. I still have that job after a year and a half, and my employer has been very thankful in both wage and compliments ever since. Face it, if you've got the skills and can show that you're the right person for the job then age doesn't matter. But you might have to help nudge things along by writing a little sloppy.
-Goran
