There is age bias in every industry and every profession. Although some managers may avoid hiring older workers due to ignorance or fear of wrinkles, most bias comes from generalizations based on experience in the workplace. Following are two of the most common generalizations and strategies to overcome them.
Generalization No. 1: Experienced workers are expensive. There are many professionals who would like advice on the best way to move into an interesting, challenging new role and make more money. This is typically a reasonable goal for professionals in the first decade or 15 years of their career. After 15 to 20 years of experience, however, these goals become difficult to achieve for most. Here is why.
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First, the pyramid of organizational structure begins to take its toll. Most organizational charts resemble a triangle. There are more roles for entry and mid-level professionals. As you move up the ladder, the options are fewer. Why? Most businesses require one manager for every six to 12 employees. At the same time, every year, more and more employees would like to compete for a promotion. The equation of fewer roles with more competition is not positive for most employees. Growth options are increasingly more limited.
The second factor is that salary is tied to value. Unfortunately, an employee does not automatically become more valuable just because he has been in a role longer. Sure, tenure does have advantages for an employer, but only to a certain point. Unless your value to the company is constantly expanding, your salary will not keep growing. If you have hit the value ceiling at your current firm, you may have a similar ceiling at other companies. In other words, moving to a new role, unless it increases your overall value to a business, does not equate to more dollars.
This aspect of employment is not personal — it is simply a business calculation. When the cost of an employee exceeds the perceived value or a business can get a similar value for less money elsewhere, a prudent manager or executive is likely to make a change. If you are not increasing the perceived value of your work to the business, you have entered the phase of your career where you are maintaining your salary or beginning to slide in compensation.
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The first step to address this generalization is understand the market value of your skill set. How large is the talent pool that can handle some or all of your responsibilities? What are their qualifications, experience level and compensation? Next, assess your level of competitiveness in your field. Would you rank yourself in the top 20 percent of professionals given current expectations for your role? Does your salary expectation align with your ranking? Use those answers to set appropriate pay expectations before you begin to interview. You will be better prepared to recognize a good opportunity when you see it and you will come across as having relevant market knowledge.
Generalization No. 2: Experienced workers dwell on their past. We work in a world with a very short attention span. Think about it, even a 10-minute YouTube video seems to take too much time. It stands to reason that in this rapidly progressing time, managers are primarily interested in recent experience. For example, you may have been the best salesperson IBM ever had 15 years ago. But, if you have no idea how to set up a Zoom meeting and conduct a demo online, you are going to struggle as a sales development representative for a tech company. Hiring is about “What have you done for me lately?” Those who perform the best are employees who have recent or current success related to the role for which they are interviewing.
Again, this aspect is not personal — it is a business calculation. Hiring employees to work in roles where they have no or minimal related experience is riskier than hiring an employee who has done something similar and would like to do more of the same. The general rule is that work done more than seven to 10 years ago is not seen as relevant for a current job search. Accurately assess your qualifications based on that standard, then build a plan to use volunteer or project work along with education to close any skills gaps.
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Additionally, make time to learn the productivity tools currently available. Even if your company isn’t using them today, you could be the one to suggest them or you can target other competitors that are more digitally advanced. Attend local conferences and industry events to get an update on terminology, trends and tech related to desired roles. Meet people thriving in the field and follow “thought leaders” and “influencers” on social media. You can even find podcasts and blogs to round out your knowledge. Your experience can be a tremendous asset if you combine it with what is needed to thrive today.
The key to minimizing the age bias is to not rely on the past. Forge a forward progressing path based on relevant skills, compensation and contribution. Engaged, knowledgeable and digitally nimble employees, of any age, have more options than their counterparts.
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Tips to Minimize Age Bias in Hiring originally appeared on usnews.com
