Does Age Effect whether you can get hired?

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Permalink Reply by James Russell Hounsel / "Rusty" on January 3, 2010 at 1:38pm

Diana,
My name is James Hounsel and I am 57 yrs. old, and I definitely believe in the factor of age discrimination among hiring organizations and companies. Why do they even ask about Gender, race and age...but they do, and if you don't want to participate, they can still find out all they want to know about you but now you are trying to hide these factors....sooo, "damned if you do and damned if you don't". Unfortunately the world is anything but perfect and they can play by any rule that they want to. They don't have to reveal WHY they didn't hire you, so how can any government agency control the situation. All you can do is just get out there and try. Yes I definitely believe in age discrimination and that it does in fact go on. One thing that I started doing was to dye my hair so that you can't tell the salt and pepper or gray. It did take a few years away from me appearance wise. Do anything that you can if it is available

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Permalink Reply by Diana Gay Sevier on January 4, 2010 at 1:08pm

Dear Rusty,
Thank you for the reply. I dye my hair as well now. Thank God that I have made it this long now over 8 months. I keep busy I have a part time weekend job and have had two. I lost one of my weekend jobs due to the economy. I do get depressed so much so that I do not want to leave my house. I was reading one of your other replies to someone and you seem to give some good advice. I live in Austin, TX and you would think theire would be plenty of work, yes there is but, not for enough money to live in the Austin area. The cost of living in Austin is higher than even Dallas.
Keep giving your good advice and maybe we will chat again.
Diana

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Permalink Reply by James Russell Hounsel / "Rusty" on January 4, 2010 at 1:19pm

Diana,
I too must stay very busy or I'm afraid that I will slip into depression. I've got enough problems with that as it is.....I'm clinically depressed anyway and have to be very careful not to spiral down with that from just normal worry. I've been job looking for 3 months now. I just moved here three months ago from Seattle, WA. I understand about the high cost of living, Try Seattle or for as much as that goes, try anywhere on the west coast. One of the most important things I can tell you is to just stay very busy with anything you can....even if it isn't job seeking related, so that you won't sink. Good Luck to you Diana...Talk to you later
Rusty

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Permalink Reply by Rev. Spencer Leon Miller on January 11, 2010 at 1:17pm

There is no way to prove it, and it is illegal but I am quite sure that a person's age will and does effect whether or not they get hired. It is somewhat of a paradox to me because older people are known for their dependability.

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Permalink Reply by Rev. Spencer Leon Miller on January 11, 2010 at 1:29pm

There is something else have noticed, some hiring managers are just downright mean and can be very arrogant. Surely they realize that a person who has been seeking employment for some time now is most likely going through some very trying times, and yet they are spoken to by a few hiring managers in an extremely demeaning manner. At least this has been my experience.

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Permalink Reply by Shelley Fialho on February 13, 2010 at 3:54pm

Reverend Miler,
I have also noticed the 'attitude' of recruiters or hiring managers towards applicants. It is as if they are taking out their anger and frustrations on us because they have so much work to do!
I am an older worker who has much to offer any organization and for at least 10 more years! I would love to ask them what their turnover rate has been in the past when I've been told I wouldn't stay with the oprganization because of the lower pay, position, etc. It is just an excuse.
I hope these people are not ever in the same place as I am and experience the same behavior as I have. It ( their behavior) doesn't give a very good image of their organization!

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Permalink Reply by Shelley Fialho on February 13, 2010 at 3:56pm

I have been discrimated against with age as well as gender and it makes me so angry! I wish there were some way to do something about it.

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Permalink Reply by Rev. Spencer Leon Miller on February 13, 2010 at 4:44pm

If enough of us can contact our elected officials and give them dates and times I believe something can be done about it. I was treated in a demeaning manner by a well known staffing agency in Houston who handles hiring contracts for Continental airlines. Not only will I contact Continental, I plan to contact my congresswoman to see if there is anything she can do about it as well. Maybe we can gather the names and signatures of other individuals who have been discriminated against by these arrogant staffing recruiters and make some noise?

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Permalink Reply by James Russell Hounsel / "Rusty" on February 13, 2010 at 6:04pm

Hi Shelley,
This is Rusty Hounsel. You can look at my view of age discrimination if you look back further upon this discussion. Yes I do believe emphatically that there is age discrimination or for that matter, any kind of discrimination. Just because there are laws preventing this, does not prevent an organization or business from discrimination. They don't have to say why they didn't hire or promote you. They can make up any story they want to show it was based upon anything they want you to believe. I don't understand WHY they provide one of those pages about your race or gender and tell you that it will not effect your standing for review for hire. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. With today's information acquire, they can find out already what or who you are if they really want to. So if you say that you don't want to participate on this page of the application.....they might look at it as that you are a non compliance person and find out all they want to know about you anyway. We are past the 70's where civil rights organizations that protected civil rights are a thing of the past. Any race, gender, or age can become whatever they want and statistics will show you that. 30 years ago it would have been impossible to believe that a black man would become President of the United States, company, or a CEO of a corporation....but really look into it and you will find ANYBODY is at all levels of Government, business, Societies, and organizations, whether what gender.Unfortunately the discrimination goes on no matter what race, creed , age , or gender
As far as the way recruiters or staffing agencies treat us, I agree with you and the Reverend that they tend to look at us as a bother and only care about where they are getting their money from....."the businesses that do the hiring". I have found the poor taste of their treatment to the vast people that are earnestly wanting to work and have earned the rights of treatment with respect to all their knowledge, skills, and experience as something that is a bother to them to take their time to help you unless they have the Income provider paying them to do it. After all.... we are all in it to make a living aren't we?
When I first hit Dallas from Seattle on the first day that I arrived, before unpacking I received a phone call from Express Personnel Services in regard to a perspective employer that was interested in my credentials that Express Personnel got from Career Builder. Needless to say I went for the interview the next day, and it looked good from my perspective of the proceedings. The "Personnel" that was dealing with me told me that it looked good and would definitely keep in touch with me of the progress no matter how it turned out. I never received a reply from that moment on. No yes or no no. I repeatably called and left messages as to what is going on and she would never return any message. I even sent her numerous e-mails just asking to please have the courtesy of informing me of what is going on.....never once a call or a courtesy e-mail to say what the company thought. I thought that that was the most unprofessional person that I had ever come across in my life. If you ever come to Dallas Texas to live , and you want work, DO NOT ever use Express Professional Personnel and especially do not use Brandy Daughtry who works for them!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Rev. Spencer Leon Miller on February 13, 2010 at 6:55pm

Shelly and Rusty,
If you are in need of a senior friendly employment website try www.SeniorJobBank.org, however, it does reflect the times we are in doesn't it? Someone had to develop a website which includes senior friendly employers because the others will have nothing to do with us.

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Permalink Reply by James Russell Hounsel / "Rusty" on February 13, 2010 at 7:19pm

Thank You Reverend,
I thank you for the insight into the website for senior friendly web site, but unfortunately I not only need to use that one, but any job site or staffing agency because these times are extremely dire and as reports go, this is the worse unemployment surge since the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Some people have compared it to the great depression, but I doubt it that it is THAT hard or you would find great soup lines all over the cities. Being an"elderly gentleman" as far as the employment problems of age oriented people go ( I'm 57 by the way), I have to try all corners of employment and just be inventive, factual, and resourceful so that I can obtain the outcome intended which is employment. I die my hair and do other things to give the appearance of a more youthful age because you need to look down every avenue of a situation before you travel it. Also I depend on God to help me as well as you must do, or you wouldn't have the Title of Reverend.
Fortunately I have been hired to start a job on the 22nd, and will travel that road until it works for better or I obtain more gainful employment under better circumstances. It's not the best job, but at least it is work and that is what counts.Remember that it's not the destination, but the journey to get there, unless you refer to the place we all get to after this life is over.
Thank You Rev,.....Rusty

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Permalink Reply by Rev. Spencer Leon Miller on February 13, 2010 at 7:56pm

Rusty
I am also 57, born November 3, 1952 and believe it or not I am attending school with only three months left. Some people even family members have tried to discourage me by saying that I am too old to attend school but just like you said, "...it's not the destination, but the journey to get there". I encourage you to keep depending on God regardless of the circumstance. It is God who is in control, not the staffing agencies, not the employers, not the politicians, but God! And although we do not know about tomorrow, tomorrow and all the other tomorrows are in His hands. I am glad to hear that you will be working pretty soon, and you never know what it may lead to. It could lead to something much better for you and your family. God bless you my brother.

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