
Does LinkedIn Promote Ageism? - srevenant
LinkedIn requires start&#x2F;end years for any experience and this becomes a way for people to identify a person&#x27;s age. I have seen it used time and again where people look to see how old a person is, then pass simply on that alone--especially in the Tech industry.  There is an article on Slashdot today about how to retrain &quot;old IT people.&quot; The problem is the same as race, why are they singled out? In many states age is a protected class, so why is it not getting the same level of treatment as things like race?  LinkedIn doesn&#x27;t require you to list your race... Has anybody else observed this behavior?  Perhaps they could simply give the option as the # years spent at a given location, in lieu of start&#x2F;end?
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tzakrajs
I don't and will not put more than 10 years of experience on my resume no
matter how old I get. My university study does not exist on my resume either.
I am hoping this will help against discrimination.

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AnimalMuppet
Instead, look for jobs where more than 10 years of experience is an asset.

I've been a professional programmer for more than 30 years. I bring way more
to the table than someone with 10 years of experience, and I expect to get
paid for it. If you're not looking for what I have to offer, then I'm not
looking to work for you.

I haven't been out of work at any point after 3 years of experience, so this
attitude hasn't hurt me in terms of having work.

I'm in embedded systems, though - this approach might not work in, say, web
programming.

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lordCarbonFiber
I don't see the issue? Any resume you provide is going to have the dates of
tenure (and probably a graduation date for that matter). Unless you're trying
to argue that employers shouldn't be able to look at experience when hiring
there's not much way around it. Even without ranges number of positons and the
highest title reached can give you a relative age to some degree of accuracy.

I think tech's dirty secret is that there is ageism, but not against the old.
You only need to look as far as the entry level jobs requiring 10 years exp to
see that the system isn't really rigged in favor of young people.

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dabockster
> I think tech's dirty secret is that there is ageism, but not against the
> old. You only need to look as far as the entry level jobs requiring 10 years
> exp to see that the system isn't really rigged in favor of young people.

Yep. I'm starting out my career and have been denied entry level opportunities
on the basis of not having enough experience (even though you'd think entry
level = minimal experience required).

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soared
Which makes complete sense. If you don't have experience in a job, it makes
sense an employer might not want to hire you. I got an entry level job out of
college because I had years of internship experience.

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srevenant
I had somebody tell me they like to see if anybody had any gaps in their
employment. But this is probably a false indicator either way and not worth
the problem of encouraging Ageism bias.

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paulcole
I like talking about the 2 year gap in my resume.

I chose not to work because I had saved enough money to live inexpensively,
sleep in, exercise, read books, and do whatever I wanted without having to
answer to anyone.

Employers who are interested in this and "get it" are the ones I want to work
for.

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JSeymourATL
> I have seen it used time and again where people look to see how old a person
> is, then pass simply on that alone--especially in the Tech industry.

Linkedin is simply a screening tool. And long before that, there were actual
CVs on paper.

If you influence the hiring process, get curious about why people get
screened-out. That's where you find the true hidden gems in talent.

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fiftyacorn
I dont see a long history as a negative - if you are being recruited for one
role, then often a technology from your past may swing it for you as the
organisation has a system using this technology that no one wants to touch. So
recruiting you makes sense as you can give advice on that system

