How to Handle the Age Factor on Your Resume

It’s no secret that ageism is rampant in the hiring process, and there are plenty of reasons why employers sometimes prefer younger candidates. From the company’s point of view, these include:

– More experience often translates to a higher starting salary

– The misconception that older workers are not in tune with the current technology

– Fear that an older candidate will be retiring soon

– Concerns about an older employee being unwilling and/or unable to work with younger people and learn new processes and skills

I’ve spoken with so many job seekers in their 40s, 50s, and 60s who are well aware of these concerns and uncertain of how to demonstrate on their resumes and in interviews that they are passionate about their work, excited to take on new challenges, and have a desire to stay on the job for a significant period of time. They often ask me how to handle the age factor on their resumes.

1.) Career Chronology

Your age should not be obvious from your resume. This might seem odd since a resume has always been a summary of the career history, so how can it avoid revealing older dates? Well, with current best practices a resume typically wouldn’t go back further than 10–12 years (or 10–15 years for executives) so as…