Last month I talked about the chronic nature of long-term unemployment. But there’s another elephant in the living room—systemic ageism.
In a recent segment on the PBS News Hour Paul Solman reported, “For those 55 and older, it takes at least a year on average to find work, longer than any other age group.”
He then sat down to talk with a group of bright, skilled, articulate older men and women who been unsuccessful at finding work.
Although each of them had tried to appear younger using such tactics as truncating the work history on their resumes, their attempts had ultimately backfired.
“I was coming in for a face-to-face interview,” one person said, “and the HR recruiter saw me, assumed who I was, and his face—I could just see his face almost fall when he saw me and how old I was. After that, I pretty much got pushed through two of the people I was supposed to talk to. The other three got busy and I couldn’t see them.”
The others nodded and related their own experiences of losing an interviewer’s attention or being given a perfunctory half hour before being shown the door.
Every time you do not give your consent, every time you leave an encounter with ageism with your dignity intact, you win what you need most in the struggle against long odds—the capacity to keep going.
Ageism is a prejudice, like any other. It occurs when a judgment is made about a person based on age classification rather than who he or she is as an individual.
It is perpetuated by generalizations that are false, e.g., when people who are experienced and well qualified get lumped in with those who have not kept their skills up-to-date.
It is being compounded by the current climate of unrest. A combination of changes in the basic nature of work and the economic downturn has stirred up a hornet’s nest of “concerns” about hiring older workers, such as: their supposed limited capacity to learn new things (undocumented); a lack of physical stamina (not really a barrier for knowledge workers); uncertainty about how long they’ll be around (shorter-term jobs are now the norm anyway); and a perceived risk that they might sue for age discrimination if let go (proactive discrimination!).
I will not be so bold as to offer a solution to so complex and pervasive a problem here. Nor do I take much comfort in the one older worker who’d managed to find a job whom Solman interviewed to provide balance to an otherwise grim report.
Instead I will take to heart the words of Joe Carbone, President of The WorkPlace, a program designed to support older workers, when he says there is a “new population” of workers now deemed unemployable because of age and length of unemployment that is caught up in a “process that’s declaring them hopeless.”
I’d like to offer these people some unsolicited coaching.
- When you encounter ageism, call it what it is while it is going on. For example, if someone does a double take when they see you’re twenty years older than they expected, shake their hand vigorously and say, “Yes, I’m Jeff—you look surprised (or disappointed).”
- If the interview schedule is unexpectedly altered, let them think you had to postpone other things of great importance to be there. Say something like, “It was my understanding I’d be meeting with the Manager and Vice-President and I arranged my schedule so I could do so. What’s changed? Why have those meetings been canceled?” Don’t make it easy for a gatekeeper to dismiss you.
- If you feel you’re talking to a let’s-get-this-over-with interviewer, offset the flatness in the room by stating your qualifications with more, not less, energy. Address the lackluster nature of the meeting with an inquiry such as, “Have you already chosen a candidate?”
Actions like these are more than emergency tourniquets to stop the bleeding of your self-esteem.
When practiced regularly over time they have the potential to break the cycle of your own participation in this unfairness as a victim. Eleanor Roosevelt, who spent the last half of her life fighting both injustice and her own sense of inadequacy said, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
Every time you do not give your consent, every time you leave an encounter with ageism with your dignity intact, you win what you need most in the struggle against long odds—the capacity to keep going.
One of Your Best Ever Articles. So filled with practical tips for fighting ageism. Call me sometime and I’ll fill you in on my sexism and ageism strategies — start my own businesses. I’ve another about to be announced. Hopper House Tours – a two-hour guided tour of Wellfleet and Truro Vistas and Houses that Edward Hopper painted.
@Beth Chapman, Thanks, Beth. I love your new business idea. Bev
Beverly,
I think it is important and helpful to address at their appropriate level of importance. “Ageism”, as some sort of national problem, is appropriately of concern to national policymakers, legislators, union leaders, etc. For them, it is a good problem to be tackled and resolved. For an elderly job-seeker, no. It should best be considered as a problem of interest. For me or you to take it seriouslyl, personally, is simply an exercise in creating more discouragement and hopelessness. Not helpful or useful.
As individuals, our challenge remains the same, in spite of ageism or any other national problems of the day, i.e. the economy, sexism, racism, etc. Our challenge in looking for a job is to find more and better ways to convince potential employers that they cannot go one more day without us. We are so useful that we must be hired, whatever our age, sex, etc.
Make sense?
Bob Quilitch
Reno, Nevada
@Bob Quilitch, Yes, a systemic problem will need to be addressed on a higher level. In the meantime, however, individuals who can find appropriate and respectful ways to deal with ageism in the moment will not be participating in it being perpetuated and retain their dignity. In my view and experience, taking self leadership responsibility is a very powerful way to demonstrate your value, at any age! Bev
Hi Beverly, great article! In my business of homecare for seniors we absolutely love our older workers. Having life and work experience goes a long way in my book and should not be overlooked. When I opened our office on the cape 15 years ago our first hire was a 65 year old woman who did just about everything. Just a few years ago she cut back on her hours and is now working mostly from home but still comes in the office about 4 times a month. She will be 80 in November and is still a strong contributor to our team. One of our Client Care managers was hired at the age of 64 nine years ago and today at 73 can run rings around people half her age. She works tirelessly in the office and out and continuously learns new skills and systems and is a great ambassador for our company. And last, more than 50% of our home care workers are over the age of 60 and a handful 80 or over. Granted we work with the senior population but we are very people focused. All our caregivers need to go through our training programs no matter what their experience level is, have good health, have good social skills, and must be able to care for our clients and take care of their needs. Older workers are our lifeline and a tremendous asset to our business. I can attest that they can and do learn new things, have the physical stamina that we require and do stay around for the long term. They are also respectful, reliable, kind and caring. What else does a successful business need?
Now can we talk about the younger worker?
@Denise Dever, Thank you, Denise, for stating the value mature workers bring to your business so specifically and with such heartfelt enthusiasm. Bev
Hi Bev–
Those of us who have been in the position of seeking a good job at an older age know all about the usual “ageism” tactics. While your suggestions are good ones, what really is needed is a national campaign to work with employers, policy makers, and other work force leaders to educate and start changing attitudes about older workers. We make up an enormous cohort that the country cannot afford to overlook.
True, many of us do go on and get artful about “work” by starting our own businesses or shifting into another creative endeavors, but many, many of us still need “real work” to support ourselves for the thirty years of “retirement” ahead of us. There have got to be better opportunities for us than making $8.75/hour at a part-time retail job.
–Gay Wells
@Gay Wells, Only through diversity will nature or an economy be sustained, but sadly it may take a long time for the disconnect between an “enormous cohort”…we “can’t afford to overlook” and new forms of reasonably paid work “to support ourselves for 30 years of retirement” to be resolved. In the meantime, we will have to address ageism and making our value known, as best we can, on incident at at time. Thank you for your thought provoking comment Bev
Hi Beverly,
Thank you for the great article! I loved the spirit and the tactics! Even if job seekers don’t actually confront their oppressive interviewers, you have given them a fantasy that will enpower and energize them. It certainly energized me. I will be teaching “Selling Your Age Advantage” (pro bono) at the Allston Brighton Resource Center (funded by the City of Boston) next week. You have expanded my thought process for my preparation.
I’ve been ripped about age discrimination for a very long time. I loved the testimonial from Denise Dever about the incredible productivity and spirit of her team of older employees! Yes!
And I agree with Gay Wells about a national campaign – although I would use the word crusade! I’d also like to see the issue become the Ad Counsel’s (Smokey the Bear) campaign.
Thank you for getting my juices flowing!!!
-Kit Hayes
@Kit Harrington Hayes, Always glad to provide new energy…would offer the suggestion that interviewers are not “oppressive”, but unaware that ageism is the only prejudice that makes those who perpetuate it the objects of it at a later date. Bev
Bev, I got a whole new career when I wanted one as a person in my 60s by networking. People who know you personally and are in positions to hire will turn first to the qualified people they know.
Arlene
Thank you, Arlene, for giving attention to the strategy of focusing on people for whom you are a known entity. Bev