| Topic Name: |
Getting hired at 35 plus |
| Message Name: |
Age-skills |
| Date Posted: |
11/28/2000 |
| Message: |
I am 38 years old and an overweight woman. Yes, I've seen discrimination, although it's not necessarily specifically due to my age -- could be weight, could be gender, could be some combination. My old job was notorious for that -- if you didn't look the part, you didn't get the promotion and/or raise. See, I had converted the report return time (I do database querying) from 4 weeks to 4 days and was told: no raise for you. This was over a year ago (I had been there just under 5 years when they dropped that bombshell, and had performed the report turnaround feat in 2 quarters). Yes, it hurt. A lot.
But -- a happy ending! I enhanced my skills and started posting. Funny thing is, people on the 'net can't see your weight, and if you hide your name, they can't tell your gender, either. Age is harder to hide, but not necessarily such a bad thing. After all, the companies that want a certain number of years of experience must also get an older employee with that experience. I like to think they aren't looking for prodigies who started coding at age 4. If they are, then they deserve the open unfillable positions they have -- and I don't want to work for such unrealistic folk, anyway.
But I digress -- posting: I got an offer for contracting work at a raise of, I kid you not, 68% over my salary at the old place. When I announced I was leaving, managers' jaws collectively hit the floor. A senior VP asked what she could do to convince me to stay. I toyed with the idea of a parting shot but my mother always told me to be polite. No, thank you, I said. I left on good terms and, if contracting turns out to be terrible (far from it) or the rug is pulled out from under me, I can even go back there if I want to. Not that I am a glutton for punishment, but it never hurts to have good contacts. Plus, I can sleep at night, knowing I didn't burn that bridge.
Skills will never let you down, I believe, and neither will tact, savvy or good communications skills (written or oral, both is best). If the positions you see out on the 'net all require Crystal reports, then learn Crystal! Keep up with technology and your industry of choice. This means trade journals and/or conferences. Behave yourself when you interview -- this is supposed to be your best behavior. Yes, interviews can be silly and artificial, but they are HR's way of making sure you won't be a nightmare to work with. They don't want to hear about how much better you are than them -- they want you to fit in. I bet you wouldn't want to work with a smug know-it-all -- I know I wouldn't. That person might be great at what they do, but if their attitude makes everyone around them go out of their way to avoid them, then their skills are being eclipsed by the interpersonal problems they bring to the table. I also mention good communications skills as these seem to be in short supply, particularly in the IT field that I am in. Good, clear, concise communications save companies confusion, time and money. Communications can prevent blunders -- some of which can even be fatal to businesses if the blunders are big and bad enough. If you can bring these things to the table, you should be hired -- regardless of your waistline, race, gender or the amount of grey hairs you have.
Good luck to you!
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