I am not sure if putting my age on my CV will be beneficial to me or more of a hindrance. I am 28 and have 7 years experience as a H&S manager. Will employers prefer someone who is older or will my age benefit me ? Thought ?

To be honest I think employers can work it out, as most people list their job history from the time of finishing school or have dates they did degrees etc, so normally not difficult.

That will be worn away by the time your 33 :) On a serious note - age - be it young or old has it's advantages. I agree the employer will work it out and even if the employer hadn't worked it out before interview they will after :) I always put my DOB on my CV - if I am going to be discriminated against I might as well find out sooner. dealing with all of the fun of the job at 21 - shows clear ability and a strong personality, use it as a selling point!

As agencies these days deliberately don’t identify this information and most large organisations go out of their way with policies to avoid ageism during recruitment, I simply thought that the professional thing was to simply leave it off. The last time I saw a date of birth on a professional CV must be over five years ago!

It's well worth taking a look at a few of the 'free' CV advise sites out there once in a while as the etiquette for CV's does change over time. I've recently updated my CV as I'd got my DOB on the head of the page and looking around it seems to have fallen out of favour for professional CV's. I'd advise taking a look at the 'Business Balls' website for some good, solid advice on CV's and covering letters. It's no fuss and tells it like it is, well worth 5 minutes of anyones time.

Apart from being an overtly ageist statement you should also be aware of Code Point 17 of our Code of Conduct.

Sorry age is no excuse.

Age is entirely relative and jsut one aspect of a person/job profile. How about a 64 year old 100 metre runner in the 2012 Olympics final? Or a 21 year old high school graduate President of the USA? Possible but unlikely and perhaps not the best fit to get the best results in the tasks on offer? That said, what defines success is whether you match enough of the complete person and job spec to get an interview and then whether you can manage that interview successfully. Your approximate age will be apparent from the contents of your c.v. p48

Its one of those dammed if you do and dammed if you don't scenarios, I can understand an employer wanting a younger person as they may stay with the company for longer, fresh ideas etc, however, an older person comes with experience and most likely completed / updated their training so no costly courses to pay for, I am now 63 and changed employers some 6 years ago as I was looking for reduced hours, this fits in quite well with some SME's as they are not looking for a full time H/S professional. Personally I would put my DOB and age on a CV so they have a clue as to what they are getting, I may be a little overweight, a bit saggy in places and have more lines that British Rail, (what you see is what you get), but I believe I can still deliver a good service.