Tesar-Reynes

In a recent gathering I was asked my opinion on the subject of age and the job market. After the conversation progressed for a while, the issue broke down into two pieces: chronological age versus perceptual age and naive preemptive cutting of the candidacy due to age.

I fully believe that chronological age is a poor qualifier for an individual’s candidacy. I have known people in their teens that acted like they were in their 50’s, conversely I have known people in their 80′s that acted like they were in their 40’s.

Perceptual age, how one acts, is all about enthusiasm, flexibility, curiosity and the ability to relate. As a search company we are much less concerned by someone’s age, and more how than by how they act and think.

There was a general consensus in the room that many people have been carved out of a candidacy because of their age. They felt it was less an issue of age discrimination, and it was the inability of junior level people in an HR department to fully determine whether one candidate had the appropriate background.

There seems to be a number of people right now who blame the junior people in HR for a heavy dependence on their software versus their judgment. I honestly hope this is only a rumor; otherwise they’ll be keeping out a great deal of good people!