<p>How can do I convince someone who does not want to hire old people to hire an old person?</p>
<p>Backstory</p>
<p>I'm 31, I have a wife, a mortgage, a 2 year old.</p>
<p>I'm interviewing with a manager from JPL for an internship on Friday. This particular person views each of those aforementioned factoids as major strikes against me. This is not speculation, I spoke with him last year (informally after a talk he gave) and not only were those all strikes, but my entire work experience is irrelevant. You may be asking how I got an interview? Well I don't believe he remembers my name, so I omitted all my prior work experience to look younger on paper. Don't get me wrong, I'm qualified for the position, I just tailored it as if I were 21, single, and unhindered. If it is pertinent, he himself is a gym rat type who is 45 and never married.</p>
<p>Things I won't be talk about in the interview:
-Wife (Wedding ring to remain in pocket)
-Mortgage (Yes I am willing to move for a job like one at JPL, yes my wife and I worked out the logistics)
-Child (just no, as far as he's concerned I'm willing to pull overtime, go to happy hours, and be one of the guys)</p>
<p>Things I can't avoid:
-I think I can get away with saying I'm 28 if he asks me directly, though perhaps I should volunteer the information to avoid him guessing higher?</p>
<p>Things I'm not sure about:
-Obviously I have a lot of irrelevant work experience, I would prefer not to bring any of it up since my current/recent exploits are what got me the interview.</p>
<p>Things I'd like to focus on:
My love of all things space
My competency as a programmer
Amateur engineering experience through EC projects and recent internship.
Enthusiasm for JPL and moving back to SoCal (where I'm originally from).</p>
<p>Ha, still chuckling about 31 being an “old person” </p>
<p>I agree with above…never lie. Don’t volunteer it. And avoid answering if not relevant. Maybe come up with a canned answer, " a few years older than my classmates, but that’s been an advantage". </p>
<p>In any case, if he actually asks this stuff, he would be needlessly risking a lawsuit. Discrimination on the basis of marital status is explicitly illegal in California. While age discrimination is not illegal unless you are over 40, it may not look good to a jury if it came out in the courtroom during a lawsuit on employment matters.</p>
<p>No I don’t particularly want to work for him, however, I’m mature enough to get past personal differences if it means doing meaningful work, especially when down the road it is easier to internally transfer than get hired externally by another department should it come to that.</p>
<p>However, if his prejudice against “old” or married people affects how he supervises other employees like you, then he may not give the best endorsement for you to internally transfer.</p>
<p>The way to deal with it is to show employers who you are as a person. While not exactly like your situation, we hired a guy one time whose grades were not all that great and was “old” (maybe 25, haha). But, he had put himself thought school, had a family, and worked almost full time. The amount of drive this guy had is what got him the job.</p>
<p>IANAL but - Some of the information you will offer is not required, and the employers cannot legally ask for it. But nothing stops an employer from forming a positive impression of you based on what information you offer. </p>
<p>When did you get your most relevant degree, or are you still in school? I would be really surprised if your were explicitly asked your age. However, employers will generally assume that you are ~22 when you get your bachelor’s degree, in the absence of any contrary information. If you look much older than 22, I suppose that would be contrary information. Still, I wouldn’t explicitly volunteer age, since a prospective employer really shouldn’t ask about it. </p>
<p>Omitting irrelevant info on your resume from before your BS degree is fine. But having gaps in your resume after your BS can lead to questions. </p>
<p>If you currently live in a different city, it is a good idea to volunteer that you are fine with relocation, and are eager to move back to SoCal. Don’t volunteer that you are married with a kid, if you think that might hurt you. Show your energy and enthusiasm. </p>
<p>If you really want to hide your age, you might need to be careful about what you volunteer about your love for space, since that might date you, e.g. would you have been old enough to remember an space related event? For example, I remember when the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster happened in the 1980s, so clearly I’m not 22 years old. If you volunteer your love for space, I can imagine getting a question like, when did you first get interested in space? </p>
<p>I think space knowledge is ok. Fun family tidbit - DD (born 1989) was a space nut and very avid reader She went to space camp and stayed up late trading trivia with the counselors - “They taught me some new stuff. I taught them a lot too.” At age 11 she knew things about the space program that I will never know.</p>
<p>No offense, but the manager sounds like a real douchenozzle if he is giving you grief over your age and family situation…</p>
<p>I know many employers discriminate to some degree, but most are willing to seriously consider you if you present a good case. I agree with others here in that you should spin your age into a positive thing. You are not old by any means, but you are at the age where most employers think you are becoming (or have become) established in a particular area.</p>
<p>Good luck though, and don’t lie about anything.</p>
<p>Not sure if this applies in your case or not…Sometimes being completely clean shaven can make you appear younger as well…so if you have a beard or mustache you may consider shaving for the interview …?</p>
<p>Thank you all for the advice, the interview went supremely well. I was able to keep the conversation casual and on my projects and where I had applied various skill sets. I think getting a short haircut helped, one of my tau beta pi electees said I looked 16. Between that and my shortened resume, age or related topics never got brought up.By the end of it he said “I’ll be frank, I want you to come out next summer.”</p>
<p>My husband finished his master’s degree in engineering at the age of 32. (He had wandered around during his twenties, living on a commune in Alaska while teaching in a private school and working as a lumberjack.) He never had any problems with age discrimination. He actually grew a beard to look older, so he would be taken more seriously. He’s 60 now and still going strong. Still looks younger than his age, although I told him it would be OK if he shaved off his beard, so he did.</p>
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