In addition to regular feedback on this subject when I first start working with many of my older clients, I often get e-mails from people who believe, because they happen to be over fifty years of age (in one case, actually, over forty-five), that most employers won’t ever want to hire them because they are too “old” and “over the hill.”

They base this belief about age discrimination on all sorts of things, including:

• If they’re interviewed, the initial HR interviewer is often younger than they are.
• If they get to a second interview, often their potential boss is younger than they are.
• More often than not, they don’t even get to the interview after sending out many resumes.
• They’ve seen age discrimination mentioned in a wide variety of articles.
• Other people have told them stories about how they were treated and how it involved age discrimination.

The above is just a starter-set of the reasons why many “older” people believe employers are actively practicing age discrimination, of course. (As a side comment, it is a widely held belief that anyone whose age is “plus-ten” more years than yours, is “older.”)

All of this, despite the fact that, if any of this is provable, it could mean a very substantial law suit against the company in question. The belief that people are routinely discriminated against on the basis of age by employers is, as you can see, very deep rooted and persistent.

Now I do believe there are a number of very valid reasons why older people don’t get (a) responses to their resumes or (b) a job offer after being interviewed. These reasons, interestingly enough, are the very same reasons why many younger people don’t get job offers or responses to their resumes.

What are some of these reasons?

• Well, for one thing, if your resume isn’t well-written so it presents you as an exceptional candidate, you probably won’t get a response to it – no matter how old or young you are.
• For another thing, if you don’t know how to play the Interviewing Game and don’t do a good job of interviewing, you probably won’t get called back – no matter how old or young you are.
• For a third thing, if you don’t know how to handle the issue of salary whenever it comes up, and you’re both experienced and over-priced, they won’t hire you – no matter how old or young you are. (And, if you’re older, yes, you probably have a work history that includes a higher salary range.)
• Fourth, if you look tired or worn out – no matter how old you are – that fact will be noted and your energy level will count against you in the competition for a job.
• Fifth, if you’re “out of it” and don’t know such elementary stuff as how to use a computer or the latest buzz words or, if the job calls for it, Excel or PowerPoint or Access, it’ll count against you – no matter how old or young you are.
• Sixth, if you’re uncomfortable working around a certain age group (and that could include younger people) and it comes across as an attitude to a younger interviewer, no matter how subconscious you believe it is, you probably won’t get that offer – no matter how old you are.
• Seventh, if you’re over-qualified for a position – no matter how old you are – it’s likely that they won’t call you.

The seven situations I’ve mentioned above all have very little to do with age, if you look really hard at them and think about them. Not that they are “nice” or “fair,” but they are very valid reasons not to hire someone. Period. Especially the third one.

If you’re over-priced because you’ve been around longer and gotten to a certain salary level, it’s a two-edged sword. A very tough situation, indeed, when employers are on notice to cut costs today. That’s a money issue, a very tricky money issue, however, not an age issue. If you were twenty-one and earning the highest salary around for your type of position, you’d be in the same position as a fifty-year-old with a similar salary history, perhaps even worse because you wouldn’t have as much experience.

So, if you think it’s an age issue, you’re inclined to throw in the towel and give up. If you think of it as a money issue, on the other hand, it becomes clearer and there are ways to handle it. There are many strategies for handling salary questions, and strategies for negotiating up.

If you think of it as a “chemistry” issue, as another example, between yourself and a group which may have different characteristics, there are strategies for handling such issues, too.

And knowing and understanding what you’re facing, facing the facts and not transmuting them into interpretations, not sloughing it off into the category of “age discrimination”, is one step in the right direction that enables you to think clearly and begin building workable strategies.

I say this because I often take clients through this process to help them to understand what they’re facing. That’s my message here.

What can you do about holding such a belief?

• You have to learn to distinguish between that which is a fact and that which is an interpretation.
• A fact is immutable; no amount of discussion, “spin”, or examination can change it. A fact might be that a person is “blonde.” (Yeah, they could color their hair but for arguments’ sake here, let’s assume they’re really blonde.)
• An interpretation, on the other hand, is not immutable; it can go all over the place; it is subject to “spin”, to discussion, to dispute. An interpretation might be that “blondes have more fun.”
• Confusing the two leads to serious consequences -- one of which is that the people who believe that their interpretations are facts will react to the world in totally inappropriate ways.
• Believing your interpretations can often result in self-destructive and extremely inappropriate behavior.

Believing that because you’re a certain age, the world of potential employers is against you is “an interpretation,” not a fact. It will color your attitude in subtle ways, and you will react to it in ways that are self-destructive.

Let’s examine some of the ways that people react to this threat of “age discrimination.”

• “I’m too old and therefore I ought to get out of this field that I’ve been in for over twenty years.” If they don’t want me, I’ll get out and find something else.
• “I’ve worked long and hard to get to the salary level I had in my last job, and if they’re too stupid to see my value, the h--- with them!”
• “That young w------------- thinks he’s going to tell me how to do my job! No way! I’ve forgotten more than he knows!”

None of these reactions, as you can tell, are productive. They’re all guaranteed to pit the job seeker against the potential employer. Not a great way to get the job, is it?

You can fill in additional quotes and, if you’re older and have been laid off and now are seeking another job, might even catch yourself getting into such thinking.

So, if you’re an older job-seeker, remember, in addition, that you may have certain things going for you that younger people may not have. For example, at a very large computer manufacturer, I know of one situation where a manager took the applicant, who had gray hair, aside after the interview and said, “Am I glad you’re interviewing. I’m so tired of these inexperienced kids they keep sending me.”

Hm-m-m-m, sounds like age discrimination to me.

Preparing for the big interview

Interviewing: As good as vs. better than

Dirty little secrets of interviewing

Answering questions in interviews

Letting stats get down

Interviewing means big problems