Ageism Question

round the bllock again

Looking for peoples opinions on this situation.

I recently went back to higher education, and obtained a Degree in a technical discipline, having had a previous 3rd level qualification in the same area,since the 80s .

Have had continuous and verifiable work experience in the same area, no convictions, no issues.

Local company advertises in a local newspaper with a position, (Foreign Multinational Manufacturer))that when I looked at,I knew was more than adequately qualified and experienced to do. Position is also advertised with numerous agencies also.

Position advertised in May of this year,
Applied directly to company and no response, waited a Month and contacted them, just a curt Email back stating that they would not consider me for the position, sent 2 emails back simply requesting some feedback as to why my qualifications and experience were not acceptable to them : NO REPLY.

Then submitted an application to one of the agencies , same MO no reply or acknowledgement, contacted them for an explanation and was informed that because I returned to education and had been out of the workforce for the time I was in education my work experience was now dated and could not be considered.?? Agency person had no Technical qualifications and could not explain this reason in any acceptable manner.

Last Monday same Position advertised again, this time I submitted a dummy CV with lesser qualifications and experience, with a fictitious Name, Address but with a new email address and a new phone number.

Next day Phone Call from the agency.

The difference in the CVs was the DOB.apart from Phantom applicant being lesser qualified , experienced and having an unverifiable term in Australia.

Im in my early 50s , but MR Phantom was in his late 20s.

I did put my DOB on the CV I submitted, however leaving that out would be superfluous as it would be easy enough to calculate an approx age from dates of education and employment anyway.

Anyone else have any such experiences ?

Tenigate

I think you need to move on. That's not normal behaviour.

OK Ageism isn't nice. But it may be a young team that doesn't want to work with & possibly carry an older person who has dated experience and is currently unemployed.

Try doing some work on your own CV instead of the CV of "Mr Phantom". For a start, it's not the done thing to put your DOB on your CV. Consider removing the dates of your first stint in education, and only include your most recent degree. Also remove old work experience from your CV, concentrating on only your last few positions and their relevance to the job you are applying for.

onlinepal100

Ageism is really an issue, not only here in Ireland but in other countries also. One agency in Dublin told me "it is rampant" and "for ageism read "too experienced""! But it has always been thus.

20 years ago I worked, in Kuwait, with a guy from the UK. He was 42 and hated Kuwait but even then could not get a job in UK because of his age!

A friend's comment recently - "difficult to get a job over 40. Impossible over 50 unless through a friend".

For me, now 57, I haven't worked full time since 2013. Only thing to do is move on and try to set something up for yourself. I am a qualified accountant but have reinvented my self as a book keeper (way below my skill level), business advisor, company director (very small companies) and company secretary. While the money isn't great I get to choose my own schedule.

Embrace the grey hair factor!

If you want to persist in applying for jobs in larger organisations, drop unnecessary dates and restructure your CV to focus on the achievements of your career. Tailor those to address the requirements of the role you are applying for!

Best of Luck!

Slydice

Contact the Workplace Relations Commission and check with them:
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/Contact_Us/Contact_Details/

Information and Customer Service
Workplace Relations Commission
O’Brien Road
Carlow
R93 W7W2

Tel: 059 9178990
Lo-call: 1890 80 80 90 * (09.30 - 17.00, Monday to Friday)

DX: 271001 Carlow2

Click HERE to contact Information and Customer Service.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/equality_in_work/equality_in_the_workplace.html

The Workplace Relations Commission is the place to bring a discrimation claim under the Employment Equality Acts 1998–2015 using the online complaint form available on workplacerelations.ie).

and

The Employment Equality Acts 1998–2015 outlaw discrimination in a wide range of employment and employment-related areas. These include recruitment and promotion; equal pay; working conditions; training or experience; dismissal and harassment including sexual harassment. The legislation defines discrimination as treating one person in a less favourable way than another person based on any of the following 9 grounds:

Gender: this means man, woman or transsexual
Civil status: includes single, married, separated, divorced, widowed people, civil partners and former civil partners
Family status: this refers to the parent of a person under 18 years or the resident primary carer or parent of a person with a disability
Sexual orientation: includes gay, lesbian, bisexual and heterosexual
Religion: means religious belief, background, outlook or none
Age: this does not apply to a person aged under 16
Disability: includes people with physical, intellectual, learning, cognitive or emotional disabilities and a range of medical conditions
Race: includes race, skin colour, nationality or ethnic origin
Membership of the Traveller community.

kadman

Even the governments ESRI's report of 2014/2015 believes that getting back

to employment for 50+year olds is extremely difficult.

For 60+ year olds its practically impossible. And the number of 60+ year olds opting for

upskiling is virtually nil.

Teyla Emmagan

round the bllock again wrote:

Then submitted an application to one of the agencies , same MO no reply or acknowledgement, contacted them for an explanation and was informed that because I returned to education and had been out of the workforce for the time I was in education my work experience was now dated and could not be considered.?? Agency person had no Technical qualifications and could not explain this reason in any acceptable manner.

This is clearly mad. Utterly bonkers in fact. Why don't you accept that in this case you were clearly dealing with idiots? It might help.

You do need to clean up your CV though. No CV now has a DOB on it. And you should cull it of everything but the most recent/relevant information for the job you are applying for. Your CV is the reason you were rejected. If they had met you they might have realised how amazing you are. So don't let your CV give them a reason to reject you.

onlinepal100

All good comments however, a potential employer, or an agency working on their behalf, will never come out and say that an applicant is too old. The euphemism of "too experienced" or something similar will be used or worse still, no feedback whatsoever (which is, from my experience, the norm at all recruitment levels) will be given.

In these circumstance, there is no possibility of making a formal notification to the Work Relations people or any other government body.

The key is, as TE says, a CV tailored to the specific role/experience required which is devoid, as much as it can be, of age identifying markers.

In addition a Positive Mental Attitude is required to keep going.