This Month: How Do You Handle Employment Discrimination?

In This Issue of On Target

Coming Next Month: "Mentors: Do You Need One?"

Employment Discrimination: It's Illegal...and It Happens

Laws have been passed to make employment discrimination based on numerous factors—such as race, religion and age—illegal. Those laws have been around for a while now, and no company can claim ignorance as an excuse. But discrimination happens—sometimes because of poor training, but too often because companies have gotten sophisticated about how they do it. They're seldom careless enough to engage in obviously discriminatory actions that are guaranteed to get them in legal hot water.

One of the most common concerns job seekers have relates to the possibility of age discrimination. Applicants may have gray hair or some other physical attribute that makes it clear they’re not thirty-something, or maybe even forty-something. Less obviously, something in their background could still give away age information.

The recurring question is: How do I handle this?

It starts with your resume. Examine all elements carefully to see if you’ve included something that “dates” you. For example, you might find old technology, outdated business concepts or employment that goes too far back in years. Remember to judge each item in current terms. Something "old" might become "new" (in demand) again, at least temporarily, as COBOL experience did during the Y2K challenge. Remove or rephrase any "dated" items you see that could make it easy for an observant reader to estimate your age too closely.

A special issue arises with regard to showing the year a college degree was obtained. Degrees earned within the past 10 years or so should usually include the date. If they're older than that, you might want to think about omitting the year. Readers may suspect that a degree is old when there's no date, but if they see one, they'll know it is—and exactly how old!

At the same time you're removing or changing old items, make sure current “hot buttons” are included if they’re a valid aspect of your experience. This shows you’re up on the latest developments in your field and have current knowledge in key subject-areas. Take action to acquire new or expanded expertise that will help increase the demand for your services, if you can.

You can delay the question of age by revamping your resume, but at some point—usually when you arrive for an interview—you may still have to deal with the issue of age discrimination, and it can be very tough to prove. For instance, the company can claim that the person they hired had more or better qualifications than other applicants, including you.

How you prepare for the interview and how you handle yourself during it can make a huge difference. Start by identifying and preparing as many "success stories" as you can, in order to underscore the value you've contributed to employers throughout your career. Use the C-A-R (challenge-action-result) concept as a foundation for your stories. (NOTE: You should really do this at the resume stage, so you can include some of the best stories there.) Then practice delivering the stories succinctly and compellingly during your interview preparation.

The goal is to speak strongly to a company's sense of enlightened self-interest, to show them what they will gain by hiring you that more than makes up for the cost of doing so. However, if a company is determined to discriminate and can do it without being obvious, it's time to ask yourself a key question: “Do I really want to work in a place like this?” You might want to run, not walk, to the nearest exit!

Thought for the Month

You have to recognize when the right place and the right time fuse and take advantage of that opportunity. There are plenty of opportunities out there. You can't sit back and wait. Ellen Metcalf

News & Tips

• <strong class="style4">Health Costs More Terrifying than a Terrorist Attack: According to a Kaiser Health Poll Report publicized by SHRM, personal health care costs are more terrifying to most Americans than not being able to pay the rent or mortgage, losing a job, losing savings in the stock market, or being a victim of a terrorist attack or violent crime. Rising costs and the possibility of losing coverage rank high on the list of worries regarding health care.
• The Voice of Career Success - Landed.FM: Landed.fm is a virtual career empowerment service powered by Deloitte. It uses on-demand Internet radio to help professionals succeed, through weekly broadcasts of interviews with senior executives and leading experts in career management, human resources, job search, networking, and employment trends.
• Reasons that Retirees Return to Work: An Older Workers Study by SHRM/NOWCC/CED, which surveyed 291 retirees, found the following reasons for returning to work: 72%, enjoyment/occupying time; 64%, money; 53%, social interaction; 45%, benefits; 36%, retirement made financial sense but not personal or career sense; 30%, challenge. (Multiple responses were allowed.) An AARP study in 2004 also found that 79% of baby boomers plan to work in some capacity during their retirement years.

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