One reader of The Work Buzz brought up a good topic for debate. Sylvia Paramo asked: “If a job applicant is 55 years old, do they really have less of a chance of getting hired?” Sylvia’s experience with the younger members of the work force haven’t been all great, so she expressed some hesitancy at losing out on a job to a recent graduate. While we here at The Work Buzz don’t think anyone’s automatically a better or worse job candidate because of their age (or any other demographic trait, for that matter), we do think it’s worth addressing a conversation that’s been going on for decades and has heated up more in the last few years. If two candidates are pitted against each other, one being young (by professional standards) and the other being significantly older, who’s going to get the job? The thing is, no one knows, and it’s not as cut and dry as age. First off, you should know your legal rights in terms of age discrimination, as explained on the government’s EEOC site . So rather than try to say that you, specifically, can always get hired in any situation, here are ways you can stress the attributes of your age without having to actually talk about your age. Why? Well, because no employer wants to hear “I know I look old, but…” or “I might have baby fat, but…” Instead, phrase it all in terms of experience. You’re an older work (however you want to define “older): You’ve already made the mistakes When you discuss weaknesses or learning experiences, you can refer to mistakes you made earlier in your career. Everyone makes rookie mistakes, and hopefully you learned from it so that you can point to a time when you didn’t know your limits and now you do. You’ve been around the cubicle (for lack of a better metaphor) If you’ve been in the work force for 10, 20, or 30 years, you’ve probably held different positions

Original Source of Ask The Work Buzz! The Age Debate