Were You Ever Told that You were too Old for a Job, when You were still Young?

Mike

Mike

Well-known Member
Location
London
I was once, I did a test before the interview, things like, sums,
Two + two = four, turn that into numbers, plus other ones more
complicated, the man interviewing me, was doing me a favour,
he didn't have any positions, but if I passed his interview, he would
get me a job.

He was with IBM and had two offices, one in Cape Town, South Africa
and the other in New York, USA, he travelled between them and got
home to Edinburgh most weekends.

At the end of his interview, he said that he was pleased with me and
my test etc., and that he knew somebody that would take me on in
the Computing Industry, as I was leaving his office, he called me back
asking, "how old are you", "26 I said", "oh dear, he replied, you are too
old, this is a young man's game", he was 30!

Mike.
 

Yep, and I did not get the job, although I exceeded the minimum requirements. The guy was a bit condescending in his comment. It was a long time ago and I cannot even recall what the job was about. I do recall that I grew a mustache following that interview to try and look older, but I don't think it ever helped.
 
Nope but I was called "Maam" by some kid driving a car asking for directions when I was just 22!! I wanted to brain him. 😖

face palm quote morn 4 fb.jpg
 

Mike said:
I was once, I did a test before the interview, things like, sums,
Two + two = four, turn that into numbers, plus other ones more
complicated, the man interviewing me, was doing me a favour,
he didn't have any positions, but if I passed his interview, he would
get me a job.

He was with IBM and had two offices, one in Cape Town, South Africa
and the other in New York, USA, he travelled between them and got
home to Edinburgh most weekends.

At the end of his interview, he said that he was pleased with me and
my test etc., and that he knew somebody that would take me on in
the Computing Industry, as I was leaving his office, he called me back
asking, "how old are you", "26 I said", "oh dear, he replied, you are too
old, this is a young man's game", he was 30!

Mike.
Click to expand...
Isn't that against something or other?
But Mike, You LOOK so much younger than your age!
You're a pretty handsome dude! Maybe he was jealous!
 
No, but when my wife announced her retirement her manager offered to lay her off if she worked another six months — giving him time to find and train a replacement. The lay off initiated retirement, but it also included a fat bonus, so she agreed.
 
In my early 30s, I applied for a job as a letter carrier. I wasn't hired.

An insider later told me I was probably considered too old. He explained that it was because of insurance. "Older" employees need more prescriptions, etc., so the unofficial policy was to hire younger people. (Illegal of course.)

I was also not hired as a teacher in in a certain country. I was told (not by the interviewers) that in that country, foreigners are expected to be glamorous. At age 40 or so, I didn't present the image they were looking for.
 
Heh, yes one in particular comes to mind.
When I was job-searching, and having no luck at all, I happened to meet a guy who said he did day-labor work for an individual, and that the individual asked him to bring along anyone he knew who needed work. So I, and a slightly younger woman, accompanied this guy to the job. Although the three of us spent a couple of days scrambling around roofs, stripping off roofing materials, climbing up and down ladders, etc., the individual ducked out without paying us. Turned out he worked for a local roofing contractor, and did have the habit of this behavior. While the three of us were working, he spent most of the time standing in the driveway smoking pot.

I did good work, as did the other two people, which this individual had to admit. However, when I first met him, as I'd basically been hired sight-unseen, he asked my age and when I told him he remarked "If I'd known how old you were I never would have hired you." It was a few weeks before I turned 47. I guess maybe he thought I would drop dead on the roof or something. lol
 
58 years old, fill out the application, " we are taking applications". This is followed by a deafening silence. Go back to follow up and it was like they had never seen me before. Would I really want to work there?
 
Yes, when I was about 35. I had graduated from college. This man told me everyone is hiring 23 year olds and nobody wanted the oldesrs to work for them. I actually believed him and felt so disappointed. He was my first job interview. What a jerk he was now that I think about it 🤣
 
feywon said:
That's what i heard more than once--- overqualified.
Click to expand...
Over here today, it is easy to be overqualified, a friend went to
University in his 40s, to get a degree in electrical engineering,
he did very well and even got a Master’s Degree, this intrigued
me, as he wasn't the best electrician that I had worked beside.

I asked him what the pass marks were in the exams, he told me
45%, this shocked me, to think that people were getting papers
so easily in a dangerous profession, when I took the same degrees,
the lowest pass mark was 85%, two exams required 95% and one
needed 100%, no mistakes.

Older people were more highly educated, I think, compared to recent
exam, requirements.

Mike.
 
No, but after retirement from the military, I applied to a company to fly their leased jets for their millionaire clients and was told that I was "over-qualified." How can a pilot be "over- qualified?" Under qualified, maybe. After that rejection, I decided the heck with it and took up working at convenience store 3-4 days a week for 4-6 hours a day. It's fun at times, especially if a customer buys a scratch off lottery ticket and wins a $100 or more. When I started working there, I made $11.00 an hour. Then suddenly, they gave everyone a $5 an hour raise. I didn't ask any questions, but I knew they didn't give it to me for being convenience store worker of the year. Since that raise, they have given me 2 more raises of $1 each. I don't know what's going on, but I remember Gramps telling me one time, to "Never look a gift horse in the mouth" whatever that means, so I didn't ask any questions. But now you know at least one of the reasons why everything in a grocery store is so expensive. I used to buy a knock off Slim Jim for 2/$1. Now they sell for $1.29 each. Quite a mark-up.
 
Too old and too young, I've experienced both. Most of my working life has been spent in the Logistics Industry, that's haulage, storage and deliveries. My first experience was at the age of 24, a fresh faced graduate who happened to be in the right place at the right time. I ran a large distribution depot with a staff compliment of about 200. How I loved it. Asserting yourself when so young isn't easy but I left nobody uncertain who, to misquote an American President, had nobody to pass the buck to. They called me: "The Boy General."

Fast forward thirty years and I was with a large corporation that had just been bought out by the American company, UPS. When they came to see me their summary was simple, I was 52, their fellow was 41. It was a case of: "You're an old has been, here's some money, now **** off!" Not quite that crude, but there was no assessing my experience, it was simply down to age. So be it, the pay off was well worth it. Sorry to sound smug at another's misfortune, but I did smile to myself when, twelve months later, a former deputy manager texted me to say that the 41 year old whizz kid had a nervous breakdown. It's a tough industry.

Last August we hired a motorhome to go to a festival in so that we could assess the value of buying one. I was deemed too old to go on the hirer's insurance, but my wife was just under the age threshold so she drove it.
 
No but my nephew applied for a job and was told that the reason he didn't get it was because he seemed to "want the job too much, too enthusiastic about working" there. (My nephew is a matter-of-fact, doesn't-wear-his-heart-on-his-sleeve, *non*-drama-queen type, btw.) It was for a cable TV company so if you've ever been disappointed by a cable tv company's service, this may explain it.
 

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