Posted By James365 I suspect age discrimination is something that prevails in many organisations, where the perception may be for someone "young and thrusting" as opposed to someone seeing out the remainder of their working life. Which is a mistake in my opinion. With your maturity and experience, you may find youself more appreciated by smaller consultants, perhaps as an associate. Have you considered this approach?

Posted By Kieran J Duignan Dave Perhaps a more fruitful line of approach is to dwell on what your years of experience enables you to bring that can't be easily learned otherwise. In this month's issue of SHP, I've outlined an approach to coaching. To what extent does your experience enable you to offer a coaching service? Not simply about S & H technicalities but also about other areas of organisational and management behaviour?

Posted By David Thomas Dave "Everyone" is telling us that there is no such thing as age discrimination, but we all know in our hearts there is. We apply for jobs where the specn is written around our own cv's - and we don't get called for interview. Then a few months later we have dealings with that organisation to find the job went to someone much much younger than ourselves, but they only stay for 18-24 months and the job is being re-advertised. In my experience the older employee offers experience (of life, not just a jumble of letters after their name), of people and most importantly a work ethic that includes commitment to stay the course. For all of us keep trying, I'm sure there is someone out there who will appreciate your experience of life as well as H&S. best regards Dave

Posted By Jennifer Kelly To the previous respondent - we all need need to earn a living regardless of what age we are. You may be needing to put your child through university; I need to get half a foot onto the property ladder. On this particular issue I have sympathies on both sides of the fence. I am young enough to have parents still working but who have both recently been back in the job market with varying levels of response. I am also old enough to have a few jobs by now and worked with various types and levels of people. 'Older colleagues' have occasionally in the past tended to have low levels of IT literacy, reluctance to adapt to a new situation, poor general fitness and a habit of over using the line: "30 (+/-) experience in this job have taught me a/b/c," often accompanied by the world weary "you're young but you'll learn" statement. On the positive side I have learnt many tricks of the trade from these colleagues and once we got to know each other I politely point out that not knowing how to use email in todays' workplace is unacceptable. On a final note my parents have both now found work due in part, I think, to excellent IT skills, the ability to adapt and excellent fitness levels. My Dad thrashed me in the squash court the other day. Jennifer

Posted By Jim Walker Take heart fellow wrinklies. With the current improvements in Maternity (and now paternity) rights, the tide is turning. Some minor politician said the other week what many think - any small business man will not consider employing women of child bearing age (nor their spouses). Very politically uncorrect, but you can see the point. Those of us who have " been there, done that, nearly got rid of the little darlings" are a far better bet.

Posted By James Goodstadt Jennifer, First of all, as my wife is both of child bearing age and in the process of bearing child, I do not agree that women should not be considered due to being of child bearing age, but are you really saying you cannot see the logic behind the small businesses thinking? Employing someone who may need to be paid for maternity leave, time off for dealing with their children, offering flexible hours (which possibly cost more) etc will cost them money and hence if there is someone who is not child bearing age who is equally qualified and experienced etc, there will surely be the temptation to employ the one perceived to cost less in the long run (even if a bit wrinkly!) Regards James

Posted By Karen Todd Hi Dave, I have a problem with ageism also. I am 28 and think I look 28, but others think I look much younger. In my present job, when I had just started, people said, "So, is this your first job after uni?" and were a bit shocked when I said, "No, I left 5 years ago". I've also been called "kiddo". I have moved around quite a lot in my career, but I think this is a good thing as it has let me see lots of different industries. However, a problem I frequently come across is people who've only ever worked for the one company all their life, or who have been with the company for 25 years and always think they know better than you. Often they have experienced the same problems as you are encountering and can quickly help you identify solutions; but at other times they are just so rigid and set in their ways and don't want to change things or listen to new ideas. These are the kind of people who say, "That wouldn't work because..." or "No, we couldn't possibly do that because..." or even just "No". For example, in a previous job I had only started I was shadowing a senior process engineer and he took me along to one of his meetings. They had a problem with a component that was needed at the start of the process, and without it they couldn't make any product. It had arrived in the UK but was stuck in Customs and they reckoned it might be another week before they could get it. I said, "Why don't you just pay the money for special customs clearance?". After a few people fell off their seat the shocked response was, "You can do that?". They then went and investigated this, but I didn't get to go to any more of those meetings, and I'm sure someone else took the credit for my suggestion. I frequently feel as if people think I need dumbed down, or if I have an idea that they do like the sound of the response is, "Great idea. You go and do that". Another thing I hate is getting rubbish feedback from interviews. I had feedback recently where I apparently came across as "quiet" and they "weren't sure how I'd cope with being in male dominated environments or dealing with difficult situations". As an engineer I've spent my entire working life in male dominated environments, and at one time was a project manager for a structural steel company with 25 men under my direct control! I'm also anything but quiet. The real reason I think I didn't get the job - I looked too young. In fact, at one time I was told to take my age/date of birth off my CV... Karen

Posted By Jennifer Kelly Knee jerk reaction moi?! No seriously I understand what you were saying Jim and whats more, agree with what you are saying. To describe the world as a 'nasty' place is a little over the top in this context, what you mean is that many companies always look at the bottom dollar rather than do the right thing in terms of their legal and moral duty. Sound familiar? In terms of women being better or more professional then men, whilst it is very nice of you to say that, you miss the point. The ability to do a job is not dependent on your gender, colour, orientation or age. It is down to the right qualifications and experience. A proper interview must use these principles when deciding upon the best candidate. That way we are ALL protected regardless of our gender, colour, orientation or age. Regards Jennifer