Another year older, another year wiser, right? Unfortunately, your age can have a big (and often detrimental) impact on your odds of getting a job.
Hiring bias is a real issue. People will make judgments on just about everything about you—and if you're re-entering the workforce after a long break, or making a career transition later in life, it can be hard to "sell yourself" as a solution to your prospective employer. Ageism is an unfortunate reality in the workplace—about 65 percent of Baby Boomers have reported suffering from workplace discrimination.
What is Age Discrimination, Exactly?
In simple terms, age discrimination at work is when an employee (or a job applicant) is treated less favorably because of their age. While age discrimination can go both ways (ie. discrimination against "too young" or "too old") we are going to focus on the age discrimination that happens against older employees or job applicants.
While it is unlawful to discriminate against employees due to age, it can be difficult to identify age discrimination. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) forbids age discrimination against people who are age 40 or older.
If you're feeling out of place, outdated, or like Robert De Niro in The Intern, it's time for a pep talk. You’re an asset. Your age isn’t a liability. You’re a great fit for this position because of your experience, not despite it.
How to Identify Age Discrimination
Some age discrimination is blatant, outright, and ugly. It can look like an older employee being demoted, only to be replaced by a comparatively "young buck" weeks later. It can transpire as mass layoffs that are mainly constituted of employees over a certain age. It can look like teams being repeatedly built of younger employees.
Age discrimination can also occur at a microaggression level. Microaggressions are "brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory or negative slights and insults to the target person or group."
A microaggression could take the form of a seemingly banal passing comment in the hallway about how Elizabeth "Doesn't even have an Instagram account."
The microaggressions are insidious, even if they're not always rooted in malintent. The thing about microaggressions is that they build on each other. When the first joke about Elizabeth not knowing a thing about technology gets glossed over, it starts to repeat. All of a sudden, nobody trusts Susan to learn the new version of the accounting software when it is released. Elizabeth isn't even given the chance to prove herself—simply because of her age and perceived incompetence.
Common Occurrences of Age Discrimination At Work
The following are a few ways that age discrimination tends to rear its ugly head. Do any of these look familiar?
1. Being passed over for a younger, less-experienced employee for a promotion
This is a pretty blatant example of age discrimination, especially when the older candidate has more experience and more expertise. If you have been turned down for a promotion that ended up being extended to a younger, less qualified employee, you may have evidence of age discrimination.
2. Being left out of projects
Often, the first sign of an age discriminatory workplace is being removed from certain meetings. From there, it can look like being left out of important decisions or even being physically distanced from your team.
3. Being encouraged to retire
This is a pretty obvious one. Some companies will offer early retirement packages to older employees as an incentive to retire early. These packages are typically very attractive and hard to turn down. However, if an employee does turn down the offer of a retirement package, they might find themselves fired or laid off in the coming months. This is illegal.
4. Feelings of isolation
Just like being left out of meetings or big decisions, age discrimination can also take the form of interpersonal isolation. This includes not being invited to all-company happy hours or being largely ignored or looked over by your coworkers.
4. Being put on a performance review plan
A performance review plan or a corrective action is usually reserved for employees who have had a history of negative performance or discipline. If you have had strong reviews in the past and have no history of poor performance, a sudden performance review plan is a good sign that your company is looking for a "legal" way to let you go. Our advice? Document it all—and start looking at lawyers.
How to Show Your Stuff
If you feel that your company is showing signs of age discrimination or looking to eliminate your position, there is recourse aside from "lawyering up".
- Embrace the age talk—turn something seemingly negative into a positive
- Focus on stability—steer the conversation around the future, and you being a part of that future
- Pitch your skills—not your past jobs or employers
- Show you're a lifelong learner—this is your opportunity to highlight your competitive advantage
- Don't be afraid to talk money—do your research, and figure out what your market value is
Remember, this is a great opportunity for you, and for the employer. Embrace your positive attributes, and focus on selling yourself as a solution to the company's problem—they're hiring for a reason! To help you prep for that job interview, be sure to use our checklist, and practice common questions beforehand using our flashcards.
