Recruiting more over-50s

I am a bit nonplussed by this as I don't think of myself as an "older worker" or someone whose employment needs to be promoted by some kind of special action. What will bring about a change in attitudes is the fourth bullet point in Steve's OP: the mushroom-shaped population. Employers are all getting older at the same rate as employees; director and managers are getting older at the same rate as their staff. The thinking behind this "pledge" is that over 50s are some kind of special group, distinct from the population at large, when we are actually part of the population at large, and not a minority but a hefty chunk of the population.

This kind of thinking seems to me to be a hang-over from previous generations. Nowadays, people don't seem to regard themselves as older until a couple of decades past 50. We all expect to keep on doing what we like doing through our 50s, 60s and beyond.

Previously I would have agreed with you but based on my recent experience I feel that the over 50s do need some assistance.

I have to say upfront that I have a vested interest in this type of question an over 50 who is finding it impossible to find work and becoming very disillusioned with the whole process of recruitment and those who manage it.

In my experience employers really don't want over 50s.

As we all know there are provisions to protect against age discrimination but they simply don't work. Employers can easily work out your age in a number of ways before an interview process, so you don't get invited - for example my qualifications have different names from their more modern equivalents. If you do manage to disguise the fact that you have 35 years of experience and get to an interview, there is no hiding place at that point.

I have applied for jobs that fit my experience, previous job level, salary, qualifications etc and got nowhere. I have also reduced my expectations and applied for significantly more junior posts and also got nowhere.

No one is ever foolish enough to actually refer to your age, it more likely to be that "we feel you have too much experience for this role", " this role would not be challenging enough for you", or my personal favourite "this is a junior post" which is code for we want someone younger.

I am not an HR professional but (pre redundancy) as a fully qualified manager with a large number of staff I always liked to keep up to date with legislation and good practice, hence CIPD associate membership. I read these discussions but tend not to participate as there are people who are infinitely more qualified than I am to provide constructive input.

On this occasion I wanted to add perspective from the other side so to speak. Until employers are really, really struggling to fill posts they just don't appear to want to even consider the over 50s. As you'll be aware from recent research that's not just my personal experience, it's a fact of current recruitment practice.

Any move to improve this situation is welcome as far as I am concerned.

Previously I would have agreed with you but based on my recent experience I feel that the over 50s do need some assistance.

I have to say upfront that I have a vested interest in this type of question an over 50 who is finding it impossible to find work and becoming very disillusioned with the whole process of recruitment and those who manage it.

In my experience employers really don't want over 50s.

As we all know there are provisions to protect against age discrimination but they simply don't work. Employers can easily work out your age in a number of ways before an interview process, so you don't get invited - for example my qualifications have different names from their more modern equivalents. If you do manage to disguise the fact that you have 35 years of experience and get to an interview, there is no hiding place at that point.

I have applied for jobs that fit my experience, previous job level, salary, qualifications etc and got nowhere. I have also reduced my expectations and applied for significantly more junior posts and also got nowhere.

No one is ever foolish enough to actually refer to your age, it more likely to be that "we feel you have too much experience for this role", " this role would not be challenging enough for you", or my personal favourite "this is a junior post" which is code for we want someone younger.

I am not an HR professional but (pre redundancy) as a fully qualified manager with a large number of staff I always liked to keep up to date with legislation and good practice, hence CIPD associate membership. I read these discussions but tend not to participate as there are people who are infinitely more qualified than I am to provide constructive input.

On this occasion I wanted to add perspective from the other side so to speak. Until employers are really, really struggling to fill posts they just don't appear to want to even consider the over 50s. As you'll be aware from recent research that's not just my personal experience, it's a fact of current recruitment practice.

Any move to improve this situation is welcome as far as I am concerned.

Even at 42 - and a young-looking 42, at that! :D - I've encountered similar experiences, Julie.

It's a curious thing that, talking to senior people at the HRD Summit in February about this - in my capacity as the representative of a charity for older people and the context of the 100-year-life as key theme of the event - everyone I spoke to agreed that organizations needed to readjust their perspective on age. A 50-year-old employee could now easily have another 25 years of working life even before accounting for later-life flexibility. But whilst everyone agrees it needs to happen, there's a problem: competition.

The diminishing size of the new employee pool means that this is where the real competition for talent is taking place and everyone is falling over themselves to accommodate the needs and expectations of new millennials entering the workforce (which isn't, I hasten to add, a bad thing). But there is a glut of over-50s that is only likely to increase. As a result, there are no market pressures to accommodate this group or its needs.

One place that's offering a potential "fix" is Applied, the commercial arm of the Behavioural Insights Team (a.k.a the Nudge Unit): www.beapplied.com/about

They have developed an ATS that is specifically designed to capture competencies and to avoid tainting selector's assumptions through information - direct or indirect - about age, race, gender or any of the other cues that spark up our unconscious bias. I've not used it myself, but did get a chance to chat to the CEO there and if I were working for a larger, more cash-rich organization that was keen to maximize its talent rather than its self-image then this is the tool I'd be pressing for.