Date of birth and address to be included on CV?

stevebaxter23

Hi all,

Doing up a CV right now and am wondering should I include my full address and date of birth. A mate told me to leave them off as they could be use discriminately!

Thanks

seamus

No need for either of them.

Just takes up valuable space, and yes it does leave door open for silent discrimination.

stevebaxter23

Sound advice thanks, I'll leave them both out

Gongoozler

Address? For discrimination? I don't see how. Maybe I'm just a little innocent.

gandalf

Gongoozler wrote: »

Address? For discrimination? I don't see how. Maybe I'm just a little innocent.

Maybe you live in an "undesirable" area in the opinion of the people shifting through the CV's to decide who to interview. If it's not there then they can't use that information to make a decision on.

Gongoozler

Jaysus. The street I live on sounds undesirable even though it's absolutely fine so.. maybe i should consider this too.

Phantasos

I always include my address but I'm rurally based and would have to move for a job. I've never considered leaving it off before, but it actually seems like a really good idea...

IamtheWalrus

I put my city but there's probably no need for it. DOB? Definitely not.

seamus

gandalf wrote: »

Maybe you live in an "undesirable" area in the opinion of the people shifting through the CV's to decide who to interview. If it's not there then they can't use that information to make a decision on.

And aside from that, someone sifting through a small pile of CVs will automatically favour those CVs which show an address nearby versus one an hour away.
Especially in Dublin where an address in the city means you're less likely to turn up late (or not at all) due to traffic conditions, strikes, etc, than someone living in Maynooth.

And in many cases they're probably not doing it consciously, it just becomes a negative point on your CV subconsciously and you get binned just because.

Likewise if you're listing a phone number, list a mobile number rather than a landline which will give away what county you're in. If you get called for a phone interview you can then give them the landline (though mobile coverage usually works just fine).

Zipppy

I always have address but never dob

MrWalsh

Generally speaking a rough ago can be calculated given the number of years work experience and qualifications (ie, if you have worked in the only job 10 years and you have a degree then chances are you are 32-ish). Personally I prefer to see DOB as it saves me having to figure out a rough age - but I can see why people would leave it off.

Ive my address on too.

beyondbelief67

There seems to be two schools of thought to this, in communication class last year we had to do a cv, one tutor told us to put address but not dob but the other neither address or dob.

doolox

I'd leave out age if I were doing a CV now. I am at the age where nobody wants to hire you but you are still obliged to "actively" engage with SW until you are 62 yrs old. The chances of anyone over 55 not mind 62 of getting a job are slim enough. It is very hard losing a job over 55 because of this.

MrWalsh

doolox wrote: »

It is very hard losing a job over 55 because of this.

Yes, I think I may feel differently about putting my DOB on my CV if I were 55+, I do believe ageism is alive and well.

seamus

MrWalsh wrote: »

Yes, I think I may feel differently about putting my DOB on my CV if I were 55+, I do believe ageism is alive and well.

It can work the other way too. When you go for an interview to replace someone who's ten years older than you, interviewers are often taken aback.

That said, the effect is probably far less than for those approaching retirement age who are looking for work.

MrWalsh

seamus wrote: »

It can work the other way too. When you go for an interview to replace someone who's ten years older than you, interviewers are often taken aback.

That said, the effect is probably far less than for those approaching retirement age who are looking for work.

Yes. Generally speaking I prefer to remove elements of uncertainty upfront so I just have the DOB and address on it - Id rather be binned before interview than after making the effort if it was for ageism or an undesirable address tbh!

Jim2007

doolox wrote: »

I'd leave out age if I were doing a CV now. I am at the age where nobody wants to hire you but you are still obliged to "actively" engage with SW until you are 62 yrs old. The chances of anyone over 55 not mind 62 of getting a job are slim enough. It is very hard losing a job over 55 because of this.

And tell me why would you waste your time going for jobs you have no hope of getting???? Speaking as a 50+ who was on the market two years ago the last thing I wanted to spend my time doing was talking to people that who had no interest in hiring someone my age.

Jim2007

MrWalsh wrote: »

Yes. Generally speaking I prefer to remove elements of uncertainty upfront so I just have the DOB and address on it - Id rather be binned before interview than after making the effort if it was for ageism or an undesirable address tbh!

My thoughts exactly.

skallywag

Concerning DOB it's a moot point really in my opinion at least, as I'm nearly always able to guesstimate a candidate's age from their other details anyway (e.g. educational & employment history).

In general I would say that address and DOB certainly should not be included if it's taking your CV over 2 A4s. Address & other contact details should be placed in the cover letter / email.

Mrs OBumble

skallywag wrote: »

Concerning DOB it's a moot point really in my opinion at least, as I'm nearly always able to guesstimate a candidate's age from their other details anyway (e.g. educational & employment history).

Provided I left out my education and early jobs, and died my hair before the interview, I'm confident that you would under-guesstimate my age.

skallywag

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Provided I left out my education and early jobs, and died my hair before the interview, I'm confident that you would under-guesstimate my age.

Fair enough.

In my case at least though any CV I receive is going to make mention of which college was attended and the year of passing out, which usually will enable a good stab to be made at the age.

Would it actually not always be the case that the highest level of education with relevant year of finishing would always anyway get a mention on a CV, regardless of whether it was a directly relevant college degree or not?

Divisadero

Jim2007 wrote: »

And tell me why would you waste your time going for jobs you have no hope of getting???? Speaking as a 50+ who was on the market two years ago the last thing I wanted to spend my time doing was talking to people that who had no interest in hiring someone my age.

As the poster said to satisfy the Dept. of Social Protection. He/she has to apply for jobs or risk sanction. If there are no jobs the poster genuinely feels she/he has a realistic chance of getting he/she must be apply for something/anything. That is the system.