Anyone over 50 who has had to apply for a job recently knows that age discrimination is alive and well. Of course in most first world countries, it is illegal to not hire a job candidate simply because he or she is too old, just as it is illegal to not hire someone because of their race, religion, etc. Employers have all learned the ways around it though starting with simply not contacting anyone who has more than 20 years experience on their resume or perhaps seeing educational graduation dates that date the applicant. If you happen to contact them to follow up on your application, the code phrase you will recognize is something like "you are over-qualified" or "we are looking for someone with less experience." Yeah, right!
My attitude about such employers is that while they are overlooking a generation who has lengthy experience, was raised in a period of stronger work ethics and company loyalty and can bring a mature attitude to a workplace, why would I ever want to work for a company that is too stupid to recognize these factors simply because the candidate is over 50?
I recently read on Dick Stroud's blog, that in the U.K., a charity named PRIME has been formed by one of the more well-known boomers in England, the Prince of Wales. It states their mission thusly:
"The PRIME Initiative provides free information, events and training to
help older people get back into work by starting their own business -
also known as “becoming self-employed”.
While the site is UK focused, there are some discussions and information there that apply in North America. What I Like about it compared to AARP or CARP is that it has no advertising on it and you don't have that uneasy feeling that you will need to purchase something or end up on a mailing or telemarketing list.
It would be great to see something like this started in the U.S. and Canada.
