I'm currently in the process of job hunting, but it's proving to be quite challenging. I reside in California where the unemployment rate is notably high. It's perplexing to me that despite the seemingly good economy as depicted in reports and conversations, I'm still unable to secure employment. Initially, I was receiving numerous interview opportunities during my first few months of searching, but now it seems as though there's been a significant drop-off. Given my age, I can't help but wonder if ageism is playing a role in this struggle.

14 Comments

1. AnonymousJune 7,2024 at 1:11PM UTC

   I am in Illinois age 51 and I am in the same situation as you. I feel the same way about ageism.

2. ChrishoggJune 7,2024 at 1:20PM UTC

   Before looking at the "biggies" such as age, race, sex, and such (and those may be contributing factors) we first need to look at the basics, the fundamentals, such as:

   Do I know who I am, and what I need, work-wise, to be happy?

   Do I really know, and am I able to articulate, my core skills, experience, and knowledge?

   Am I focused on and pursuing a well-defined job goal (as opposed to applying to everything that the wind blows across my path)?

   Am I networking, informational interviewing (The 2-Hour Job Search (Second Edition), by Dalton) or only applying to advertised jobs?

   If you were getting interviews, do you know what changed (you, the job market, your approach to employers)? Not getting interviews could just be the luck of the draw, or it could be because of a change / changes.

3. AnonymousJune 7,2024 at 1:26PM UTC

   The job market is terrible every where! I often see people over 50 being the ones cut during RIFs. Ageism is real both in RIFs and hiring.

   To win, appear younger, be active on LinkedIn and take some LI courses to show your activity (post these certificates on LI). Remove years from resume for jobs after 15 years. Do not include college grad dates. Have energy in interviews. Good Luck

4. AnonymousJune 7,2024 at 3:17PM UTC

   I chopped off the year of my college graduation years ago along with jobs that I had thirty years ago. The funny thing is that I got hired at my current company by an acquaintance who knew that I was no spring chicken.

   Ironically she did lay off my supervisor who wasn’t even 40.

5. AnonymousJune 9,2024 at 3:21PM UTC

   Asking for high school graduation is the true giveaway. If someone asks for it, I don't bother to apply.

6. NatashaJune 7,2024 at 5:52PM UTC

   I'm in California as well. It's gotten oversatuated here because lots of people worldwide have journeyed here because the salaries WERE some of the highest in the world. So now there are so many applicants for every post! I just got pushed to the second round of interviews with a company! I applied last week on Tuesday and got a request for the job interview on that Thursday! That was fast! And there were over 100 applicants when I submitted my resume! No way they got through all of those that fast so I knew they were using AI to scrub the resumes! Ageism is real albeit they will never admit it. They put it as part of a "culture fit"! So, do your best to mask your age at least until you get through the interview process. Eventually they will know when you fill out paperwork when offered a job. In tech, 40 is considered "old". I was told years ago by an HR professional, limit work experience to 10 - 15+ years if you can. If you have 30 years experience you have just aged yourself! Even if you say 15+ it is still technically true. Plus, usually, a 30 year career is broken up into different functions over the period so you can break it down that way unless you literally was in the same position for 30 years. Also, don't put your college graduation date on your resume or linkedin profile. Clean up your linkedin. Don't list work experience past 10-15 years. Basically, try to stay away from dates where people can easily surmise your age. I read an article just a couple of days ago that some large companies are using AI to weed out candidate 40 and over! Don't know if that's true but companies are using AI to screen resumes that's a fact because they get 100s! I was actually told by a company that they had to shut the post down because they got over 100 in the first day! So, don't give up. I got the interview when I knew there were over 100 resumes when I applied and the HR rep told me they had over 100 applications...but somehow mine got through and I'm sure they used AI to select candidates who had certain skills. There's now an AI program where you can get on even playing field. You upload your resume and the job posting and the AI will scrub it to see what you are missing and it gives your resume a score based on it. That way you can reword and/or add specific keywords to give your resume a boost so that the AI can select you out of 100s and put you to the top. I wish I had found it months ago but I only heard about it on a zoom a couple of days ago. IF I don't get the job I'm having the 2nd interview for next week, I will use it going forward. For this job I'm in the running for I ran my resume to the tool. In reality I've done EVERYTHING that job requires in my last job so I should have 99.9% compatibility. After the scan, the AI put me at only 51% compatibility! Even the free version pointed out the disconnects which weren't really, it was all in how I had presented my information. AI is very black and white so it was looking for very specific terms. I already got to round 2 but I will use that insight during the interview process to make sure they do that I do have those skills just in case they used a similar tool. I'm sure they did. Maybe they had it scrub through and only push forward those resumes with a ranking over 50%. Who knows. But I will say this, this was my 5th time applying from October to now for very similar roles at the same company! Four times before I never made it even to the interview stage. Now I'm going into the 2nd round. I'm using the same resume albeit I have been enhancing it over the months. Same information but presented different and worded slightly differently using AI to help me take my resume and AI proof it so that a company using AI will be able to beat the AI gatekeeper! I knew it was a keyword kind of thing because AI is programmed to look for specific terms. And this new tool is doing the same thing. For one company I even had the preliminary interview with AI! There was no other choice. The first round was with AI. If you did not agree, you were no longer considered. I did it and it wasn't difficult. More of a softskills interview. But I guess I didn't pass because I didn't move forward! LOL Now, when a company ask if I would like AI to review my resume I check no! At least they asked! Most don't even let on they are using AI! I still prefer a human because a human can see comparable skills. I don't think the AI is. It's looking for specific wording. Good luck out there!

7. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistJune 8,2024 at 2:37AM UTC

   No one should be able to tell your age from your resume unless you're very early in your career.

8. AnonymousJune 9,2024 at 3:07AM UTC

   Have you watched the market over the past 90 days. Unemployment actually has risen. Only entry level and seasonal jobs have been added so very few valuable jobs for experienced workers are being filled.

9. Lisa MarieJune 9,2024 at 12:49PM UTC

   I think this is also very dependent on what field you’re in. Last few years it was very challenging to attract candidates for legal positions, but this year we got great candidates and filled the position quickly.

10. AnonymousJune 9,2024 at 3:18PM UTC

    Ageism is real. Don't let anyone tell you anything otherwise. If they hire you, they can't easily fire you.

11. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistJune 9,2024 at 9:52PM UTC

    Of course they're not just out of college if they're the CFO. That's not the point. The point is can you tell they're 35 or 59 from their resume.

12. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistJune 10,2024 at 3:31AM UTC

    No one should have 30 years experience on their resume.

    That's literally the reason I said no one should be able to tell your age from your resume unless you're very early in your career.

13. AnonymousJune 10,2024 at 5:06PM UTC

    Fire and layoff are 2 different processes.

14. AnonymousJune 11,2024 at 7:04PM UTC

    The resume "wisdom" right now is the leave off the dates on all college degrees. I received a Masters degree later in life while working a demanding full-time job, but I do not include the dates. It is your resume, do what feels right to you.