CV ageism: Can you be the 'wrong’ age for a job?

Age-related biases are baked into the recruiting process, whether conscious or not. Should workers be cagey, in order to overcome recruiters’ biases?

Applying for jobs is generally miserable, even at the best of times. But what if you knew that simply revealing your age on your CV would send your application straight into the ‘no’ pile?

That’s the reality for many people. Age discrimination means that over-50s are more than twice as likely as other workers to be unemployed for two years or longer if they lose their current job. “When you’re in your 40s and 50, mentioning your age is like dropping an F-bomb,” says 55-year-old CJ* who lost his corporate marketing job 20 months ago and is still looking for another.

It’s not just older job-seekers facing automatic rejection; young people can also be discounted for roles because of their age. Although this type of ‘reverse’ ageism is much less researched, studies show that younger workers can be considered undesirable employees, and that this can lead to them not getting hired.

“When you’ve got baby boomers who think that millennials are lazy and entitled, you can imagine how an assumption like that could get into the recruitment process,” says social scientist Stéphane Francioli, of New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Tackling the issue of age-related assumptions in the recruitment process is tricky.

The moment your CV hits a recruiter’s desk, subconscious biases around candidate ages are likely to kick in.

Whether it’s assuming older employees will take more sick days (they don’t) or younger applicants are job-hoppers (they aren’t), these clichés don’t have to be true to make an impact.

Part of the issue is many people don’t consider ageism a problem. A 2021 research paper from the Stanford Graduate School of Business showed that ageism seems to be the only condonable prejudice.

“Ageism is oftentimes a bias that doesn't even get discussed in this landscape of inequality,” says lead author Professor Ashley Martin. In fact, her research shows that those who endorse and advocate for equality are more likely to be prejudiced against older individuals.

“Unlike with race and gender, we often believe older individuals have already had their successes and opportunities. So now, the natural order of things says that they should step down so that younger people can step up,” says Martin. “And that oftentimes legitimises age bias, and allows people to feel pretty comfortable excluding older individuals from the workforce.”

If judgements related to worker age are inevitable, is there realistically anything candidates can do to avoid falling victim to prejudices? After all, even if you strip your CV of your date of birth, there are plenty of other age-related indicators in your list of previous jobs, skills and qualifications. Some recruitment advisers suggest leaving off key dates and only listing your last 15 years of experience, but is that a real solution?

Stanford’s Martin suggests tackling potential ageism head on. Think about what your age might suggest to a recruiter about you, and cut it off at the pass. Older applicants should, for example, emphasise their tech skills to counter possible stereotypes about adaptability. Younger workers should be explicit about problems they’ve solved, particularly ones that might appear out of their age bracket.

If candidates can catch a recruiter’s attention for the right reason, they have more chance of securing an interview and an all-important opportunity to make their case for employment in person. So, thinking about how you tackle the issue of age on your CV, both through what you chose to disclose and how you present and emphasise your skills, seems beneficial.