Job hunting with experience: CVs, age discrimination law and where the age-friendly employers are

Somewhere around the third application that vanishes without reply, most people over 50 start to wonder whether it is the CV or the birth year. Usually it is a bit of both, and both can be dealt with: a CV that does not date you, the law that protects you, and a shortlist of employers who have said in public that they want you. For the wider picture, start with our complete guide to working after 50.

The CV: stop giving away your age for free

The UK’s National Careers Service is blunt about what a CV should carry: contact details, an introduction, education, work history and references. And what it should not: “You should not include your age, your date of birth, whether you’re married or your nationality.” Nobody can discriminate on a fact they do not have.

AARP’s résumé advice for older workers goes further, and it applies just as well to a British CV:

• “Focus on the past 10 years.” Its reasoning is that “there’s rarely a position that’s going to post and ask for more than 10 years of experience.” Earlier roles can be summarised in one line, or dropped.
• “Remove unnecessary dates, such as graduation or when you earned a certificate.” The qualification stays; the year goes.
• Retire the old email address. AARP’s view is that an address ending in an early-2000s provider signals age; a current one does not.
• Skills, not tenure. Avoid words like “seasoned” or “veteran” and describe what you can do for the employer this year.
• Match the job advert’s language. AARP cites a figure of 78 per cent of companies using applicant tracking systems, software that screens CVs for keywords before a human reads them. If the advert says “stakeholder management”, your CV should too.

Two pages, plain font, no photograph in the UK or US, and a three-line opening that answers “what problem do I solve for you?” rather than “who am I?”.

The law, UK: Equality Act 2010

In Great Britain age is one of nine “protected characteristics” under the Equality Act 2010, alongside disability, race, sex and the rest, and the protection applies at work, in education, as a consumer and in other settings. Acas explains that this covers “direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation”, and that the people protected include “job applicants” and “former workers”, not just current employees. If you think it has happened to you, Acas is the first call. Its helpline is free, and if you want to take a claim to an employment tribunal you must notify Acas for early conciliation first, “within the time limit – this is usually 3 months minus 1 day” from the act you are complaining about. That is short. Keep the emails and note the dates.

The law, US: ADEA

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects people “age 40 or older” and applies to employers with “20 or more employees”. The EEOC, which enforces it, describes coverage as “discrimination in any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, benefits”, and it is also “unlawful to harass a person because of his or her age”.

To complain, you file a charge with the EEOC through its online Public Portal, by phone on 1-800-669-4000, in person or by post. The usual deadline is 180 calendar days from the incident, extended to 300 days where a state agency also enforces a state age-discrimination law. As with the UK, the clock is shorter than most people assume.

Where the age-friendly employers are

Rather than guess which companies mean it, start with the ones that have signed something.

UK: the Age-friendly Employer Pledge. Run by the Centre for Ageing Better, it is “a commitment made by employers to celebrate the value of older workers”. Over 600 organisations have signed, and each commits to at least one action a year in one of five areas: an age-friendly culture, hiring age-positively, flexible working, career development at all ages, and health support. The Centre notes that “today, 1 in 3 UK workers is over 50”, which is worth remembering when an application form makes you feel like an exception. The list of signatories is public; use it as a first-pass shortlist.

US: the AARP Employer Pledge Program. Running since 2012, it has over 1,500 active signers, including large national employers. Each signs the statement: “We believe in equal opportunity for all workers, regardless of age, and that 50+ workers should have a level playing field in their ability to compete for and obtain jobs.” Practically, the AARP Job Board lets you filter openings to show only pledge employers, and lets you tick a box allowing those companies to search your résumé.

A signature is not a guarantee, but it is a public promise you can politely quote back at interview.

The rest of the search

Not every vacancy is advertised, and at 50-plus your network of former colleagues is your biggest asset. Tell former colleagues, clearly, what you are looking for. If you have been out of work for a while, our article on returning to work after a break covers how to talk about the gap.

And if the search itself makes you wonder whether you would rather work for yourself, that is a legitimate answer too. The Second Act 90-day venture workbook walks through testing that idea properly before you leave the job market.

This week

1. Rebuild the CV: last ten years, no dates on qualifications, a current email address, keywords from one real advert.
2. Look up the Age-friendly Employer Pledge signatories or the AARP pledge filter and note five employers.
3. Message three former colleagues with a two-line summary of what you want.
4. If something in a past rejection felt like age, write down the date now, while the deadline is still open.