>And would you recommend age-proofing or not age-proofing?
As probably the self-declared dean of the “Sacred College of Scared FOWGs” (fat old white guys), I can say with virtual certainty and absolute confidence, speak ex cathedra, from my belly button, that it ain’t worth the effort!
Why, you ask?
Cause they are gonna find out any way just what an old fa … ahh, fuddy duddy … … ahhh, candidate … … you are.
If they don’t know it from your resume, then the walker you are using to get into the interviewer’s office will certainly give it away.
Seriously, when I counsel turkeys of advanced years … anything over 40, I urge them to put extra effort into their Unique Value Proposition and their Unique Sales Proposition. By working on the sizzle and the “stake”, you can make yourself more attractive then them there young whipper snappers you may be competing with.
And, do you really want to waste time and effort fooling them into considering you?
And, if they are such aaaa… ahhh accomplished executives, ahh … … hunters and employers … … with such poor decision making skills that they allow such a silly prejudice as age to filter their selections, then should you even be bothered interviewing with them? Guess they haven’t heard about the war for talent.
Don’t let anyone kid you, you don’t get the opportunity to unlock value for someone by fraud. You can’t trick them into believing that 60 is the new 40 or 50 is the new 25 unless you have the Jedi mind powers of Yoda.
You can MARKET yourself in such a way that you get the opportunity to SELL the value that you bring to the table. You have DIKW (data, information, knowledge, and WISDOM) that your younger peers can’t come anywhere near matching.
In closing, whenever I coach my turkeys about ageism, I think the model is Ronald Regan. Regardless of your politics, he demonstrated how to address the age issue when he said to the questioner during a 1984 presidential debate with Walter Mondale:
“I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
That was the line that many say won the election!
So too, if seekers are worried about age-proofing a resume then they have bigger problems. They are focusing on the trivial issues. They need to express their value. If they can do that in their “elevator speech”, then they may not even NEED a resume. It’s happened to me, and some others I know.
IMHO YMMV FAIWWYPFI
fjohn
the big fat old turkey hisself
p.s., Now where did I leave my powered wheel chair. It’s time for the home health aide to change me. I got so excited, I wet myself.
Reinke Faces Life 