If job seekers carefully read between the lines, they might detect subtle hints of ageism when examining job postings and 'help wanted' advertisements. The intended purpose of this article is to further explore examples of these types of job postings.
The employment market seemed to have changed for the worse soon after the financial meltdown of 2008. Ever since then, I have noticed that many job postings and 'help wanted' ads have changed insidiously by utilizing a different tone and making implicit demands of potential applicants.
To be perfectly blunt, the wording used in many of today's 'help wanted' ads sometimes carries hints of thinly disguised ageism. Although the corporations and human resources personnel who create the job postings are not being explicit about their demands due to forced compliance with equal opportunity employment laws, the phraseology that they use can tell the reader an entire story if one carefully reads between the lines. Keep reading for some examples of buzz words and phrases that give hints.
"Young home health agency seeks vibrant, energetic talent!"
The writer of the job posting is not directly indicating his or her desire, but he or she is secretly hoping that the catchy phrase attracts a younger group of applicants. This type of 'help wanted' ad is based on the horrible stereotype that older nurses and healthcare workers lack energy and tend to be not as motivated or vibrant when compared to their younger colleagues.
"We're seeking a fun-loving staff!"
Judging by the choice of words, the person who wrote the job posting is still using that horrid stereotype as a feeble attempt to secretly attract younger applicants. Again, they have concluded that older candidates are not as energetic, vibrant, or fun-loving as their more youthful counterparts.
"2 to 3 years of experience required!" "3 to 5 years of experience a must!"
Many companies that make these types of experiential demands are looking for something very specific. The person who wrote the 'help wanted' ad is not looking for a new graduate, because they would have openly advertised that no experience was necessary. In addition, companies who use this wording are not seeking very experienced (a.k.a. older) applicants, either. Think about it. We seldom see job postings that require 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 years of experience. However, requests for '2 to 3 years of experience' or '3 to 5 years of experience' are as common as weeds in an overgrown field.
Companies that use this phrase truly are looking for candidates who have 3 to 5 years of experience. From their perspective, the average college-educated professional who has amassed 3 to 5 years of experience in a certain field is probably going to be in his or her mid 20s to early 30s if this happens to be the applicant's very first career. Unfortunately, mid 20s to early 30s tends to be the desired recruitment age range for many workplaces that are looking to hire. A handful of hiring managers might be disappointed if the 56-year-old second career nurse who has 3 to 5 years of nursing experience applies for the job because he/she is far older than the age range they desired when they posted the job opening.
However, light exists at the end of the tunnel. Many companies avoid these borderline ageist job postings altogether. Some corporations even hire a certain number of 'older' applicants on purpose. For example, I worked for a Fortune 500 company for three years, and all of the occupational health nurses appeared to be well over the age of 50. In addition, one of the human resources managers revealed that they look to hire 'older' employees to avoid potential litigation.
If the article had stopped with the "light at the end of the tunnel" being "avoid these borderline ageist job postings altogether" I would totally agree with you. But it doesn't stop there... "some even hire a certain number of 'older' applicants on purpose".
Isn't that saying they don't just do x the little way in the right direction, they even go the extra mile to do y too?
And I've probably gotten a little too sensitive to this issue - I've been dealing with discrimination under the guise of diversity too much lately.
Just me personally I work with nurses of all ages, and I can say that I don't give a flip about a person's age or whatever. I just want someone working with me who can do the job, who is good at problem solving, has a positive attitude, is teachable, a good team player and has a sense of humor. I'm not a manager, but I'm pretty sure any manager who has cares about his or her department running smoothly, would feel the same way.
Describing the company as "Young, Vibrant, and Energetic" is in no way discouraging more experienced nurses from applying. This describes the culture of the company you are applying ,and giving you an idea of personalities that would suit the company. Don't be so pessimistic when reading job postings. I am sure a new home health agency would use the same terminology with no negative intentions or "weeding" in mind.
Look on the bright side. Regardless of age, at least you're an experienced RN which makes your skills far more marketable than most other people's. Here's a story about a man in NYC with a master's degree in English looking for a general, unskilled office job and having no luck. He posted a fake job ad on craigslist to see how much competition he had, and got over 650 qualified responses for an administrative assistant job with no experience required paying $12-13/hour. You can read the story here. Regardless of age, nurses have it way better than most.
I'd take a crusty old bat over an entitled 20 something brat** any day, if the people I work with are the norm.
**Since I'm tired of people on here with no sense of humor and no ability to read "funny" into a post:
1) No 20 something entitled brats were harmed in the making of this reply. 2) Not all 20 somethings are entitled brats. 3) Do us all a favor and have your sense of humor surgically reimplanted.
That happened to me. 30 years of acute care bedside nursing, 18 of which were specifically Oncology and 10 years cardiac /telemetry, the application was for a GYN oncology unit. I was told "I didn't have the experience they were looking for". "They received a nasty email back.
With my resume and the years I held my listed different employment positions, they could do the math and figure- I wasn't 20-30 something!!! This was an Urban University medical center.
I graduated nursing school at the ripe old age of 35. That was last December. I had a job on a busy med-surg tele floor before I even took my NCLEX. I'll tell you the same thing I tell anyone thinking about going back to school later in life: You're going to be 35 anyway. You may as well be 35 with a degree. Good luck!
I am so off the hook angry about the age discrimination and experience discrimination in nursing that I am going to conduct a little experiment- being the "old mean crabby,crusty experienced bat" of an RN I am. I have enrolled in a BSN completion program which starts in 1 month. I will be done in 1 year, at that time I plan to shave off 18 years of my RN experience from my resume. Let's see if the hiring goes any better for a 56 yr old 'BSN' with 14 years experience. I am sick and tired of this age discrimination, experience discrimination and unemployment. I am going to catch these buggers once and for all, Now I am a 'crusty mean old bat" of a nurse - on a mission !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will definately be posting on my findings!!!!!!!!!!!
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TheCommuter, BSN, RN
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