Do employers look at your age on a CV

I’ve removed as much as I can to give away my age on my CV i.e graduation date.

I have been asked for all dates and more details, but only once I’ve accepted the job and they are taking references.

I actually had one interview where the guy asked my age. The other interviewer said “we’re not suppoed to ask that” and then he just worked it out from the graduation date. This was a patent law firm and these were partners in the firm. I later came to realise Partners in these firms can quite often be complete sh1ts, getting way too drunk at work events, attempting to chat up new graduates who work for them. etc

The last job I applied for was by phone, the company already knew me when they invited me for an interview, and all they cared about was that I was good enough at driving a car without damaging it while parking or manoeuvring around the site.

By the time I was made redundant, after working there for a bit over five years, I was five and a half years past retirement age.

Experience was everything, as was not being a dick. Unlike one member of staff, less than half my age, who wrecked three vehicles, and came close to killing another member of staff, by driving too fast with a frosted up windscreen. 🤷🏼

Age is irrelevant.

I find it amazing employers are prejudiced against more experienced, wiser candidates who can demonstrate thier commitment to working. My last recruit is clear that we’ve got 4 years then she retires – but that’s no different from a young person who might move on and up in career, a mid-life parent who moves closer to a better school, etc etc. Few stay in jobs for life any more. IMO better to find the best candidate above all else.

The other small gripe is the fact employers can’t even be bothered so send a rejection letter.

This is modern recruitment. Arrogance from employers who feel they hold the power and owe nothing to applicants. It sits up there with the ‘wish list’ approach to hoped for experience and skills, and any company who refuses to give salary.
I insist at work that everyone gets a rejection email, anyone who is interviewed gets a personal phone call and some basic feedback, even if bland ‘the selected person was just more experienced in this area’.

We used to get so many application letters we used to put a small variation in the address for job offers so we could sort them from the rest of the mail and didn’t have to even open them all, let alone read them or write a rejection letter. How long does it take you to open say 250 letters a week, read a covering letter and CV, then put a rejection letter in an envelope and write the address. That in addition in trying to keep all the balls up in the air running a business and doing some productive work.

It’s not arrogance it’s the number of waking hours in the day.

Once we contacted someone they were kept informed.

As for age, I’m 64 and an employer would be mad to employ me. Sure I’ve got a load of experience but much of it is out of date, I’m slower moving, slower thinking, less healthy, know my rights better – I’m fit for the scrap heap.

A CV just needs the pertinent information for the job you’re going for, nothing worse than reading that someone got 3 GCSE’s in 1989, their hobbies are gardening and snooker and so on.

As for age and jobs, it’s dependent on the field, i’m in an area where we are an ageing workforce, due to the experience and qualifications required, so i see folk hired in their 50s and even 60s in our place, as we can get a few years out of them before they choose to retire (no compulsory retirement age so they are the ones who choose).

In several others areas, youth is key though, they’re more malleable and less likely to cause any issues, sales is probably one of those bad areas, where you can get a lot of problematics older people, who have commitments (children and so on), so less flexible and more likely to have the ability to leave without worrying about finances too much.

where I work , it’s application form only so we don’t accept a CV
when I look at the forms, age and the applicants name is hidden so I can’t see. Only when I select them for interview is the name shown

A CV just needs the pertinent information for the job you’re going for, nothing worse than reading that someone got 3 GCSE’s in 1989

I hate it when someone who has loads of experience and /or a degree puts in their o levels , It’s not relevant
Recently though the worst is those that get chatgpt to do their forms and then don’t read them to see what obvious odd stuff it has put in

A CV just needs the pertinent information for the job you’re going for, nothing worse than reading that someone got 3 GCSE’s in 1989, their hobbies are gardening and snooker and so on.

…my education stops at the two CSE’s I got in 1985!* 🤣

#schooloflife

(*geography and technical drawing just in case any recruiters are scanning the forum!)

Qualifications gained 25+ years ago really seem irrelevant; and not only that who still has their certificates. I think I’ve only got two, the rest could be anywhere – and I have no idea which examining board they were with.

I’d be wary of applying to a company who wanted to know what I scored that long ago. Why? Box ticking exercise?

No date of birth but it asks for continuous everything job/uni/school dates with explanations for gaps.

I’m increasingly of the mind that this is weird. What’s to explain? For a start, every recruiter thinks that there are more candidates than rolls so of course people are going to have gaps. Secondly, no-one would blink at a student taking a gap year, why can’t a more mature candidate do likewise. I’ve been out of work for six months, a big part of the reason for that is “because I could.”

A better question than asking to explain gaps might be “why did you leave your previous role?” (ie, were you sacked?) but even then there’s plenty of valid reasons, and if you were sacked then it might have been because you were working for a bastard.

where I work , it’s application form only so we don’t accept a CV

Please tell your recruitment/HR people that as a potential candidate this is a pain in the bollocks.

Even with the best intentions on the part of whoever’s looking at your CV, they’ll quickly get a rough idea of your age even if you haven’t put it on there and I’m sure it will be a factor even if it’s in an unconscious bias sort of way.

I had a job interview today, and part of the application process required a CV but also proof of having a degree. So I listed it on my CV along with grade and years so we’ll see if it has any bearing. Though I suspect they could pretty much guess my age from my grey hair in the interview itself so not exactly difficult to work out I’m the wrong (or is that the right) side of 50.

If they’re not supposed to look at your date of birth put it down as 1990. If you’re challenged then they’re the ones in the wrong.

their hobbies are gardening and snooker and so on.

I quite like it when I get a little personal flavour in there, if only because it helps remind you who the hell is who. You can quite often get 20 CVs with identical experience and identical qualifications. If someone has an outside life and can speak interestingly about it, that’s a useful distinguishing feature. Just don’t put down “reading”…and then be unable to name any books you’ve read recently…