Age discrimination? - being asked my graduation date by job agency

Ella_fella

Am not sure about the merits or demerits of this, was approached by a reputable recruitment agency about a new role, sent over CV a couple of days ago to them for submission to their client.
Got email back at the end of the week asking can I give them my year of graduation as their client may possibly query this? I deliberately leave year of graduation off so it doesn't get used as a factor to exclude me on age basis. They also asked about my employment history before my last job listed for same reasons as above, my CV covers my previous 20 years work experience.

I personally don't want to be obstructive with the agency but don't see the relevance of when I graduated unless it is used as a discriminating factor and also don't see the importance of listing non relevant jobs more than 20 years ago as my CV would be over 3 pages long unless again it is used for the same purposes?
I haven't gone back to the agency yet but was looking for some thoughts. 

tacpot12

I tend to agree that the only possible purpose is to discriminate based on your age, but I would just tell the recruiter the answer. If the employer is ageist, you don't want to work there anyway, so it is better that the employer screens you out. The alternative is to say that you'll provide proof of your graduation if the employer wants to interview you - you could say you don't want to have to go to the trouble of scanning your certificate unless that are interested in you enough to commit to interviewing you.

You could ask the recruiter whether their client is ageist. They are going to say "No", but how they respond might give you a clue that they know they are ageist. Again it is better for the agent and you to know asap if the employer is never going to hire you. 

[Deleted User]

The thing is if you refuse they may refuse to submit your application and therefore lose out on the job role. Obviously they should not be discriminating in relation to age but it’s about weighing up the risk. 

74jax

I'm not sure how it states your age? 
Is the position one where its essential to have the degree? Could it be the degree 10yrs ago doesn't stand as well as if it was 3yrs ago maybe? 
At my work we had people of all ages doing our degrees, all would have graduated in the same year, with vast ages. 
GCSEs yes, you tend to do them at the same age, but degrees can be at any time with any job. You could have done it 4yrs ago and still have a20yr work history. 
I'd just ask why they need to know the year, and not the uni (to see the standard of degree) it's an honest question. 

Barny1979

I really wonder with some people, looking for a job, but don't want to assist the agency to potentially put you in place for a suitable role.

ssparks2003

They possibly want to know how long you have worked at a qualified level. But your best course of action would be refuse to answer  the  question and then your application can got straight on the reject pile for being awkward and someone who would be a pain to employ, without having to go through all the effort of interviewing 

Undervalued

74jax said:

I'm not sure how it states your age? 
Is the position one where its essential to have the degree? Could it be the degree 10yrs ago doesn't stand as well as if it was 3yrs ago maybe? 
At my work we had people of all ages doing our degrees, all would have graduated in the same year, with vast ages. 
GCSEs yes, you tend to do them at the same age, but degrees can be at any time with any job. You could have done it 4yrs ago and still have a20yr work history. 
I'd just ask why they need to know the year, and not the uni (to see the standard of degree) it's an honest question. 

It pretty much tells them the candidate's maximum possible age but obviously they could be significantly younger if they went to university as a mature student.

Undervalued

Ella_fella said:

Am not sure about the merits or demerits of this, was approached by a reputable recruitment agency about a new role, sent over CV a couple of days ago to them for submission to their client.
Got email back at the end of the week asking can I give them my year of graduation as their client may possibly query this? I deliberately leave year of graduation off so it doesn't get used as a factor to exclude me on age basis. They also asked about my employment history before my last job listed for same reasons as above, my CV covers my previous 20 years work experience.

I personally don't want to be obstructive with the agency but don't see the relevance of when I graduated unless it is used as a discriminating factor and also don't see the importance of listing non relevant jobs more than 20 years ago as my CV would be over 3 pages long unless again it is used for the same purposes?
I haven't gone back to the agency yet but was looking for some thoughts. 

You don't see the importance but if the potential employer does and you don't provide the information then they may well say "next please".

If they want to find out your age they will, by one means or another. Plus, as ssparks2003 has pointed out (none too subtlety!), coming over as difficult is a sure fire way of getting rejected. 

Barny1979

If you get shortlisted, they'll work out your approximate age easy enough anyway when they meet you.

TELLIT01

Give the agency the information they have requested.  Being pragmatic, it's better to be sifted out now if they don't want somebody of your age (whether it's legal or not to discriminate) than to waste your time attending an interview which has no chance of producing a job offer.  Proving you have been discriminated against on the basis of age is damn near impossible.

silverwhistle

Barny1979 said:

If you get shortlisted, they'll work out your approximate age easy enough anyway when they meet you.

Yep, in which case why not save yourself the considerable effort of preparing and getting to an interview where you have no chance? 
But if you tell them and they still invite you the odds are greater that you _do_ have a chance.