Any HR people out there?

[RealGuyinChicago]

Are people over 50 just completely toxic to recruiters?

I keep getting phone interviews that seem to go well, but don't lead to further interviews.

Just recently, an HR person told me I was a strong candidate and said she would set me up to meet the hiring team the following week. Then she ghosted me for two weeks, only to eventually tell me the hiring team was "pursuing other candidates."

This is not the first time I've applied a job in which I checked virtually all the boxes, but dropped for consideration or never called.

I'm not blowing all these phone interviews. Like I said, most seem to go very well.

But, with a little Googling, it's not hard to figure out my approximate age. And I'll be 60 on my next birthday. So I'm wondering if that's the problem.

I have a job now. But I really feel I need to leave it. And I have neither the desire nor the money for retirement.

Am I being paranoid, or is age discrimination as widespread as it seems?

[XanaDUer2]

1. It exists

My 52-yr-old asshole boss usually does not hire women over 35

[mopinko]

2. keep trying. somebody has to be sick of gen x.

what kind of work you looking for?

[RealGuyinChicago]

6. Well...

I've been in business journalism most of my career and I've done some PR.

I'm looking at getting back into PR, which I find to be less stressful. It also usually pays better.

[Bayard]

3. Not in HR,

But a retired headhunter.

Yes, there's plenty of it. Seems like the only time they'll look at 60 range is if you are interviewing for a VP position, sorry to say. Otherwise, the ideal is the young up & comer, about 5 years out of college with at least a bachelors degree. Management positions, 10-15 years practical experience and degreed.

What they can't seem to understand is that those are the same people everybody else wants, and would pay people like me to go find. And they're always looking for the next step up in their career.

Have you thought about consulting? Experience matters more than age there.

[Shermann]

4. Yeah when you have a great gig like VP, you won't be eyeing that retirement balance as often

Employers generally prefer employees to be sort of trapped there.

There's no telling if that 60-something has FU money saved up!

[usonian]

5. I passed every job applicant test with all A's.

But failed the age test, repeatedly.
And they weren't all at the fruity computer company.

I interviewed at a company not to be named, let's call them hsifpanS, and totally trounced the exam. They hired two young guys instead. One weekend, they thought it would be cool to party at Lake Tahoe, and the servers crashed spectacularly.

The result? NADA. In the startup world, nobody gives a flying f-ck about anything. Just being bought out, which they were.

IT'S ALL GOOD.

BTW, 30 is the new 50. Age discrimination is the crime of the millennium, and well rewarded, not punished.