How to deal with an age question at an interview?

kilburn

Recently did an interview with a company that i really wanted to work for, got through the first interview no problem. At the second interview to my horror the managing director asked me what age i was, i was shocked if i refused it would look bad and giving it really p***** me off.

Long and the short of it is that someone younger got the job. How would you answer that question ?

Slydice

If you are asked what age you are, you can either answer with or without your age. If you don't answer with your age you will probably come across as argumentative.

If you think they didn't hire you because of your age, that sounds like illegal discrimination. Here's the citizens info page on the equality authority for more info: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/equality_in_work/equality_authority.html

kilburn

its a hard one to prove though really its your word against theirs

Diziet

'Why is my age relevant?' Said with a smile and followed on with 'I expect you are trying to establish my experience, which am happy to discuss'. Asking the question in itself is discriminatory, any HR person would tell them to cop on.

LJ82

I thought it was illegal to ask that

Manach

From what I remember browsing on the Employment equality site, it is one of the 9 grounds of discrimination - with certain exceptions (eg old enough to be working full time etc.)

ldxo15wus6fpgm

While I cannot recall the citations, I have skimmed through a few cases where people have successfully claimed from potential employers because they asked questions such as this i.e. 'are you pregnant' 'are you a muslim' 'how old are you', and the liklihood of them being given the job if that question had not been asked was not taken into account i.e. your chances of getting the job being slim anyway doesn't matter.
If you don't get the job I would consult a solicitor - don't leave it off as there are some very short time limits for making claims in employment/equality law.

EDIT: There are some exceptions where a certain age is a genuine occupational requirement though. e.g. you can't join the army at 60 years old.

nxbyveromdwjpg

Just tell them what age you are

SCOOP 64

As someone read your CV to get interview, this will give them a good indication of how old you are already, eg. first job 1985 to 1988,
This leans to my question, how far should you go back on CV, maybe only putting last 10yrs to just get foot in the door?, just wonder how many of mine have gone straight in the bin through age discrimination because of working out age by going to far back on CV.

nxbyveromdwjpg

SCOOP 64 wrote: »

As someone read your CV to get interview, this will give them a good indication of how old you are already, eg. first job 1985 to 1988,
This leans to my question, how far should you go back on CV, maybe only putting last 10yrs to just get foot in the door?, just wonder how many of mine have gone straight in the bin through age discrimination because of working out age by going to far back on CV.

Probably none, why are you all so sure that age is a factor greater than experience when hiring someone? Genuine question, not sure if I'm missing something

SCOOP 64

nm wrote: »

Probably none, why are you all so sure that age is a factor greater than experience when hiring someone? Genuine question, not sure if I'm missing something

Well if you sent as many CV,s for jobs (unskilled work) as i have in a year and have a full working career since leaving school, and not asked for one interview,(my CV as been looked at and and told is exceptable) , you tend to think , why?
then you start to consider factors which may be against you, be it age or even nationality.

bbam

There's no point in avoiding age on your CV.
Even if it gets you through it'll all be sorted in the day. It isn't allowed to give jobs based on age but that doesn't stop it happening.

Personally I have my DOB on the CV. Then you know if you get the interview age isn't a factor as they already have that info.

As for taking a case based in age. Any interviewer who asks is off their head. But it could only be proven if they recorded the question and answer on the interview notes.
The first recourse is to request the interview notes for the session and see what's recorded.

We would have had an official form to be filled but took notes on a separate rough page that we binned. Only the official sheet was filled for future reference.

Short answer, get the age thing sorted up front on the CV. Then it won't come up during interview.

Gone West

Diziet wrote: »

'Why is my age relevant?' Said with a smile and followed on with 'I expect you are trying to establish my experience, which am happy to discuss'. Asking the question in itself is discriminatory, any HR person would tell them to cop on.

Saying something like this is a sure fire way to not get hired.

DrPatrickBarry

20 yrs ago, I was told I was tool old for a job (I was 27 yrs old)

SCOOP 64

DrPatrickBarry wrote: »

20 yrs ago, I was told I was tool old for a job (I was 27 yrs old)

God help me!

DrPatrickBarry

SCOOP 64 wrote: »

God help me!

Yep, I left school at 16 to so an apprentship with the sugar company in Thurles. I then went on to do an degree in Mechanical Engineering in Nottingham. I graduated at 27. I applied to Tate & Lyle (a sugar company!!!) but I was told I was too old to join the graduate training programme.

Fridge

I really hate this predicament. You know they're not supposed to ask, but you don't want to come across as argumentative or someone that would take legal action over anything. It makes me feel really uncomfortable because you feel obliged to answer and they get away with continuing this tradition of ageism in the recruitment process.

If more people took legal action over this kind of thing (although I'm sure it's exhausting and not something most people would want to have to do) people would be more careful.

They have your experience on your CV already, and they presumably have interviewed you on this by the time they've asked you the question. Your exact age is not relevant.

I was asked to come to an interview and then she said "Oh I forgot to ask, what age are you?". I was 24, and she said "Oooh, that's quite young....yeah, listen I'll get back to you about the interview". And then I never heard from her again. She had definitely said she wanted me to attend one, but the age put her off. Despite the fact that my CV was right in front of her, and my experience was still as it was.

It's been brought up a few other times and I just feel it's pointless. Your age doesn't have any bearing on your ability, if your experience and skills are up to scratch.

Slasher

LJ82 wrote: »

I thought it was illegal to ask that

It is not illegal to ask a person's age. It is, however, very unwise.

It is illegal to refuse a person a job on the basis of their age, except in very limited circumstances.

Mrs OBumble

Please don't get into discussion of whether it's legal or not: we can't determine that here, and we know the discussion goes nowhere. The OP asked for how we would deal with it, so let's focus on pragmatic strategies that can be used to address the question.

LJ82

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Please don't get into discussion of whether it's legal or not: we can't determine that here, and we know the discussion goes nowhere. The OP asked for how we would deal with it, so let's focus on pragmatic strategies that can be used to address the question.

apologies

johnb25

Slasher wrote: »

It is not illegal to ask a person's age. It is, however, very unwise.

It is illegal to refuse a person a job on the basis of their age, except in very limited circumstances.

Keep dates prior to a certain point off of your CV.
If asked in interview, lie and pretend to be 10 years younger.
If it comes out later, what are they going to say....that you lied when asked in an interview what age you were????

kc83

I would probably myself laugh it off by saying something like "God I'm ole enough........"and follow it up with a positive such as "to have this much experience in this field....
I was asked in an interview recently"are you engaged, married or planning to have children in the next year".
I was completely stunned, so much so I answered the question(and got the job) but after the interview I was disgusted with myself for answering as its a low paid "job between jobs" type job and I have NEvER been asked such a question in all the high paid professional jobs I have been in!
I myself would not answer a question like this again in an interview.

Bandana boy

It is not "illegal" to ask in an interview what age you are, just to use age as a factor in making a decision.

If a company ask you your age I think you have to answer them honestly.
The goal here is to get the job not win an discrimination case.

If you are substantially older than other candidates for the type of positions you are going for then I would acknowledge that , the challenge here is to acknowledge it in a positive light that will allay any concerns the interviewers might have bout your age. Be they dedication ,flexibility willingness to learn etc. while emphasising the strengths this gives you, autonomy ,self-starter, patience etc.
It would probably be wise to build your answers to questions that address these regardless of whether or not they are brought up in the interview.

Neon_Lights

I don't put my age on my CV for the sole fact that your skill not age should get you the job. If I had my own business I couldnt care if the person was 20 or 50 as long as they got the job done.

confuseddotcom

:eek::eek: I have year I did my L.C. down on mine which would obv. tell exactly when I was 17/18!! But it's not like you'll be able to keep it undisclosed anyway? If ya get the job, you'll likely to be asked to fill in a Staff Form with all your details including your date of birth, so, it seems par for the course...... But, I would be curious how people manage to get out of answering it!! Like I mean, if Interviewer asked ya to tell them about yourself, and you re-gale your Employement history etc., unless you had a shed-load of jobs to speak about, - essentially wouldn't ya end up going back as far as your Schooling which would essentially inform them of Leaving Cert. age which would tell when you were around 17/18?? Maybe peeps don't go that far back into detail though?!? I kinda feel I have to as have had 1 job for a pretty long time so don't have that many previous jobs to speak about. Hhmmm maybe I just might remove the years I did any Courses out of all my education-y stuff on my CV now though after reading this......