Resume Help - Tips to Avoid Age Discrimination

Q. I'm a big fan of your website and I also follow you on twitter. I would like to ask for your thoughts on how to avoid age discrimination when updating my résumé? I am a senior level executive in the financial services sector and want to include some of my relevant early career experience without appearing ancient. What is the best way to manage this?

JS, New York, NY

A. Unfortunately for baby boomers, age discrimination is very much alive and kicking. In fact, an article written by Nancy Cook in the March 17, 2010 issue of Newsweek magazine, sites a report by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with a staggering 17 percent jump in the number of age discrimination complaints filed since the economic downturn began. There are many more infractions that go unreported. So what can you do?

Let me state for the record that lying on your résumé and falsifying information is a BIG no-no.  As a senior level executive, you probably already know this, but I want to be clear to all my readers in stating that dishonesty is NOT the best policy.

Since we have ruled out lying, how do we create a document that reflects your experience without highlighting your age?  While each scenario is slightly different, here are some basic principles that can be followed. 

There is no longer a requirement to put your college graduation date on your résumé. According to Joan Freeman, respected recruiter and national director with Gray Matters Coalition, a grass roots organization committed to ending age discrimination in the workplace, it has becoming increasingly common to see this information omitted.

1. If you do remove the dates of your education, be sure to indicate that you have a degree to make it clear you are a bon-a-fide graduate.  You do not want people to think you did not legitimately earn your diploma.
2. An often overlooked method for including valuable, but possibly dated, information on a résumé is a section I use with many of my clients as part of a hybrid résumé format. The focus is on highlights of relevant experience and dates are not required.
3. Experience that dates back more than 15 years +/- (experts disagree on the exact number and each résumé is unique), can be listed in a separate section that does not include dates or left off altogether.
4. If specific experience is omitted from your résumé, it is appropriate to add a sentence indicating that prior experience or work history is available upon request.

A résumé is a marketing tool. The goal is to get your foot in the door to the interview. Because of this, positioning yourself as a highly experienced resource without drawing attention to the 1970s makes sense.  It is unfortunate that age discrimination exists to the extent that it does and hopefully this trend will change.

I hope this has answered your question.  Ask Deb is a weekly blog and we welcome your questions.  Please email debra@careersdonewrite.com with your career questions.