Ageism in IT: Over 40? Forget about getting a job

silicon.com's campaign against ageism in IT has elicited quite a bit of reader feedback.

While some sided with our CIO Jury, saying age discrimination isn't a problem, the majority of respondents gave accounts of personal experience of ageism.

Job hunts are particularly tough for older IT workers, said readers, many of whom have been unsuccessful in landing positions for which they're qualified even after months or years of searching.

It surprised us how early the prejudice starts. We heard from readers who felt discriminated against by age 40 or even a few years earlier.

One reader wrote his job search stalled because "at 37 I am too old [for IT] and have been told so by a number of agencies".

Another wrote that when a company "found out how old I was they said they couldn't take me as their policy was not to employ anyone over 35".

A 40-year-old reader from Surrey noted a change in his luck when, after a six-month job search, he stopped telling employers his age. He wrote: "On Monday this week I decided to remove my date of birth from my CV, and to cut a long story short, had a job offer by Wednesday."

From what we heard, the problem can have more to do with head hunters than with internal company HR.

The 40-year-old continued: "Apparently some recruitment agencies consider it not even worthwhile passing your CV on to their clients if you are [40 or older]. However, the recruitment agencies are badly out of touch. When I went for my job interview, they offered me the job straight away, even though there were other candidates that they hadn't interviewed yet."

Another reader, age 48, said: "Usually my CV is not forwarded [from recruiters] to prospective employers probably because the agencies assume the employers would not want someone so old."

A recruiter who wrote in backed up these claims: "As a recruiter (age 51), I can tell you for certain that ALL the major banks will not employ any mid-management people over 45, maybe even 40. Top execs, yes, providing they are friends of friends but below that not a hope."

But could it be that companies would be more open to CVs from older applicants than headhunters think?

Eric Turner from Microplus tells us: "It is certainly [my company's] experience that we don't receive many, if any, applications from over 40s. This is despite trying a wide variety of advertisement styles and even offering training for those interested in transferring from other industries... We are currently recruiting for two members of staff and I would like to find those in the over-40 age group - the problem is they don't apply!"

A few younger readers pointed out that discrimination is not only for the over-40 set.

A reader who just turned 30 said the large companies he's worked in "tend to view someone in their 20s as not having the ability to handle large responsibilities".

Still, when it comes to recruitment, it seems the youngsters win out.

One reader described what happened when the whole of his IT department was made redundant: "There was roughly a 50-50 split between the over- and under-40's and the spread of qualifications was similar. The over-40 group obviously had more experience but that was virtually the only difference. Even the salaries were similar. After three months all the under-40s (actually under-35s) have been able to get similar jobs but, as far as I know, none of the over-40s have had any luck at all."

So why are older people discriminated against? Our readers had many answers, including the fact that older people are thought to be inflexible, expect more money, are not up-to-date on technologies and won't work as hard. Many of these prejudices don't hold true, according to our readers, while the positive aspects of older employees are ignored by potential employers.

A reader pointed out that "employers and their surrogates - the agencies - [fail] to see older staff as a pool of talent with lots going for them: less demanding in terms of salary and promotion expectations; more willing to take on part-time, contract and temporary work; and with real CVs stretching over decades."

While one would think older applicants' wealth of experience would be a benefit, it is in fact often considered a hindrance.

One reader wrote about a recent job search: "I am 'too experienced', 'too senior', they say... They want churn and younger people are easier to sell because they are 'cheaper' and have 'hands-on' technical experience - not business expertise."

Another explained ageist hiring as a symptom of how we view IT.

"If we thought of IT professionals as people who understand the principles of providing systems solutions... rather than experts in a particular technology, then we would have a basis for valuing experience that is not related to a particular technology," wrote a reader from Cheshire.

Or perhaps it's just a matter of insecurity on the part of hiring managers and headhunters, who see experienced applicants as a threat.

As a 56-year-old reader put it: "Who wants an oldie who will tell you that your software is crap and that there are more efficient ways of using the crap that you have?

"Youngsters want to make their own mistakes; in general they know that older people have more experience and they fear it. God forbid that they should hire someone with experience, listen to them and make millions."

See our full coverage of ageism in IT. Have you been affected by ageism in the tech industry? Please email your stories to editorial@silicon.com.