Friday, October 22, 2010

Dealing with Age in Resumes and Interviewing

I work with a lot of clients who are in the 50-plus sector.  Currently, I am working with a client who is 63 years of age and has more than four decades of work experience. Although it is illegal for employers to discriminate based on age, race, religion, or gender, it still happens indiscriminately.

For resumes, I generally recommend listing only about 10-12 years experience for mid-level, senior level / directorial management, and VP level positions.  While showing about 15 years is appropriate for C-level positions.  Listing more than is required for the job to which you are applying will put an “age” on you, which can open you up to age discrimination and being labeled as overqualified.  Both of which can eliminate you from the candidate pool rather quickly.

The purpose of your resume is
similar to what a television commercial is to a consumer product.  Both are selling a product and both want to catch the audiences' attention and interest into wanting the product.  You and your experience, skills, and talents are the product the resume is selling.  For more on resume strategies for those with more than 15 years experience, read my blog article on revealing your age.

Great! So your resume shows only the last ten years of relevant experience and now you have a job interview. What to do?  You are not trying to be deceptive by only showing ten years experience in your resume.  The purpose is to land the interview.  The resume isn't what gets you the job, it's the interview!  I have some great resources on interviewing and the age issue.  The internet is full of related articles, below are a few links to get you started.  Happy job hunting!

Ramsey Penegar is an executive resume consultant and is certified as a professional resume writer by the Professional Association of Resume Writers. She has developed more than 575 resumes for executives all over the United States and for international clients as well. With more than 10 years experience in marketing and sales, she has the skills to build effective job search marketing campaigns and attention-getting resumes.

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