Are We Written Off At 55 plus ?

Tempus_Fugit_2

Hi Folks,

Looks like I will be made redundant later this year. I will get a redundancy payout and be able to access a small occupational pension which will soften the blow. In that respect I realise that I am very fortunate in comparison with many members of this forum.

I was wondering if posters have found that people of my age (57) are really `written off` in terms of the jobs market ? Is there a point where the Job Centre treat older job seekers in a different way than say someone in their 30s ?

Grateful to hear your opinions.

Thanks.

Mrs_Money

Well, I can't speak for how the Job Centre treats over 55s - but I have a shrewd idea that in most of my recent applications for jobs I have been descriminated against on the grounds of age (I'm 57) - of course, there's no way I can ever prove that!

I think I (and a lot of other women) am going to have even more problems as the state pensionable age for women is gradually put up. I'm on a sliding scale process which gives my State Pension age as 63 years and 2 months. If further changes in the pension rules go ahead, this is now due to be futher delayed until I am almost 64.

My point is, if a potential employer sees my DOB on an application form (and they don't know about or understand the pension changes) they are likely to mistakenly think that (as a woman) I will be retiring at 60 and dismiss my application as not worth considering for 2 years work! Trouble is, I am part-time at the moment and need more hours which probably means a different job - as I've got 6 years to go before receiving my pension.

I don't like to generalise, but, many interview panels seem to be made up of males in their 40s - who may have no knowledge about new pension rules for women.

To go back to the above post - I would hope that experience should count for something with the Job centres - you are highly likely to be more qualified, experienced and work-oriented than some younger people.

westv

I thought it was now illegal to ask for an applicant's age on a form - unless essential for the job. Is that not the case?

gingerdad

most of our companies staff are between 55-70..... we tend toward the more mature employee as you get a much higher work ethic

hcb42

I have no idea why companies ask DOB on applications either - and if it is on your CV, then simply remove it

Mrs_Money

westv wrote: »

I thought it was now illegal to ask for an applicant's age on a form - unless essential for the job. Is that not the case?

Well, I thought that too - but they still seem to ask for it and if you are asked for dates of qualifications- then your "O" levels or GCSEs could give it away I suppose, anyway.
I'll be all right if they only look at my graduation date - I was 43!:rotfl:
Well, that'll knock 22 years off my estimated age for a start!

KiKi

I'm in my 30s so can't speak from experience of being there. But when I employed people I looked at experience, attitude and competence, and very often hired people in their 50s and 60s. Unfortunately age discrimination does happen, but there are plenty of employers who want experience, and a commitment to stay in the job for the next five or six years. That doesn't mean everyone in their 50s suits that, nor that those in their 20s don't, but experience can count for a lot in many roles.

KiKi

dark_lady

Panorama are doing a programme about this very subject next Monday (unless the topic gets changed between now and then because something happens in the news) The programme will be focusing on the over fifties. I saw it advertised on BBC1 last night while waiting for Waking the Dead.

stephyt23

westv wrote: »

I thought it was now illegal to ask for an applicant's age on a form - unless essential for the job. Is that not the case?

On almost every application form I've filled in it's asked for it on the equal opportunities monitoring form. They do say that gets separated and not given to the interviewing panel but not sure if that's believable, I dare say a lot of companies still see that with the whole application form.

milfield

Sorry to hear about your redundancy.

The Job Centre will not treat you any differently to other age groups. You have a different skill set and face different challenges to, say, somebody in their 20's or 30's, but we will not 'write you off' as it were, and you will get help from an Adviser.

Unfortunately age discrimination, well, any form of discrimination for that matter is out there, but it is down to each company. People of 50+ still get job offers and go into employment.

tizerbelle

OP, don't be disheartened. My mum was made redundant at the end of March last year, aged 64.

She was terribly worried that she wouldn't get another job and she wanted to work although not in the type of role she had done for the past 30 odd years. Anyway she applied for and got the very first job she saw advertised that appealed to her and started working there in May of last year. So just 1 month out of work.

So there is hope for you and there are employers out there who don't care about your age, they just care about your skills, experience and work ethic.

Good Luck