It's can be bad for older men. I used to interview candidates and some older guys gave off a Willy Loman or Jack Lemmon in Glengarry Glen Ross vibe. I think any time the people hiring are younger than the candidate, it's going to be tough for them. And if you deal with several people making the decision, it's worse because the negatives get raised and nitpicked. Someone may say that age had nothing to do with a rejection but I think it is a factor. On the other hand, some people are threatened by younger and people, but you have more of a chance to find people who like to be mentors and are actually succession planning. It's so tough out there.

It’s bad for both

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure. I’m a woman and I just turned 40, and I feel like the ageism thing for women cuts both ways (probably for both genders). I still feel like a “kid” in some rooms and too old for others. Work is just weird in general and the more comfortable I/we become with that, the better.

I do wish we wouldn’t be ageist. Especially now that you need to work until your dying day to afford the outrageous cost of everything in this country. It just doesn’t make sense - we all get older.

40 is a kid and old at same time. The youngest person in my company in sr. Mgt is 52. The Junior staff all under 40. So you are in that weird middle some companies

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re talking about job searching, I think men who have let themselves go have a tougher time landing a job after 50. Women have beauty aids, make up, jewelry, scarves, various clothing that can help them pass as younger. A guy with a beer belly who is bald can only do so much to help their appearance.

But isn’t the larger point that they are not getting interviews in the first place?

You can no longer apply to junior jobs within big corporations. Big corporations designed their business to be able to scale based on cheap junior resources, who are putting up with no money partly because they get to work with young, attractive opposite sex. A 55 year old man or woman do not make your colleagues excited to go in office, they don’t want to flex their knowledge to train you and they feel exhausted trying to loop you in their bar hopping stories.

But a smaller company where you are more mature and manages conflict well and you are efficient in managing tasks, you have a good chance.

Anonymous wrote:If you’re talking about job searching, I think men who have let themselves go have a tougher time landing a job after 50. Women have beauty aids, make up, jewelry, scarves, various clothing that can help them pass as younger. A guy with a beer belly who is bald can only do so much to help their appearance.

But guys can stop putting milk in coffee and drop 5lb in a week.
Women, on the other hand, looks at bacon and gains 100 to LDL.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re talking about job searching, I think men who have let themselves go have a tougher time landing a job after 50. Women have beauty aids, make up, jewelry, scarves, various clothing that can help them pass as younger. A guy with a beer belly who is bald can only do so much to help their appearance.

But isn’t the larger point that they are not getting interviews in the first place?

I know many who have been hired after 50 and several who have been hired at 60 - the key is to target different employers and companies than you might have when you were younger. Youngish or newly founded companies that are trying to grow but need the expertise will definitely give an interview to someone who has the background. As well these same companies may not be a big draw to recent grads because they are ‘no name’ companies and probably don’t have the size and internal promotion opportunities any that F500 companies offer so they have slimmer candidate pools. I think small and mid sized firms are where older workers can shine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is age discrimination the same for men and women?

Legally, the same standard applies. But, in practice, age discrimination negatively impacts women more.

Depends on the job. Impacts either gender differently. Sometimes worse for women, sometimes worse for men. Really dependent on the job and environment.

Anonymous wrote:If you’re talking about job searching, I think men who have let themselves go have a tougher time landing a job after 50. Women have beauty aids, make up, jewelry, scarves, various clothing that can help them pass as younger. A guy with a beer belly who is bald can only do so much to help their appearance.

But isn’t the larger point that they are not getting interviews in the first place?

I’m not sure. I’m a woman and I just turned 40, and I feel like the ageism thing for women cuts both ways (probably for both genders). I still feel like a “kid” in some rooms and too old for others. Work is just weird in general and the more comfortable I/we become with that, the better.

I do wish we wouldn’t be ageist. Especially now that you need to work until your dying day to afford the outrageous cost of everything in this country. It just doesn’t make sense - we all get older.

Pink collar jobs, like teaching and nursing are more accommodating to older workers, as they are used to women entering and exiting the workforce. In general, all those jobs are also somewhat resistant to having men work, though that is changing so absolute employment will be worse for older men because they have NO options, while older women can go into nursing and teaching with little ageism

Anonymous wrote:Is age discrimination the same for men and women?

Legally, the same standard applies. But, in practice, age discrimination negatively impacts women more.

It's universal for both sexes and getting worse with all the "boomer" and now GenX are considered "boomers" even older Millennials are now becoming "boomers".

If you’re talking about job searching, I think men who have let themselves go have a tougher time landing a job after 50. Women have beauty aids, make up, jewelry, scarves, various clothing that can help them pass as younger. A guy with a beer belly who is bald can only do so much to help their appearance.

There is discrimination against women more than the men and when it comes to age, it adds up even further

Is age discrimination the same for men and women?