Laura, I advise people to leave graduation dates off of resumes but you are correct about hiring managers trying to figure out ages.

Harold, I have left graduation dates off my resume. However I have been told by hiring mangers they like to see them. This was especially true for any kind of IT job since technology is alway changing so are the degreed programs. For my current resume it was recommended I have them. Also since you now fill in resume forms on employers web sites the graduation dates and with your past and current employment dates are always required.

Laura

I guess the real question would be, if you figured out someone’s age, then said -- Oh, Too Old, No Interview. That would be age discrimination.

However, if you said, humm older so maybe more mature and seasoned, lets call them in. That would be good hiring practices.

Now be very honest -- Was your employer large enough to be under the watchful eye of the dreaded EEOC, and if yes, did they try and push you to hire certain types of people, in place of perhaps best suited? Also, did they make it clear to you what type of people the company needed to fit the EEOC matrix?

My former employer and superior was actually very hands-off when it came to my recommendations of and screening of potential candidates. She seemed to me to have complete faith in my abilities to select the most qualified candidate for the position and never gave me guidance as far as the kinds of choices I should make. I really do believe that she felt I would select the best person for the job responsibly because if I did not, that would not help me accomplish my own work-related goals. If I hired someone based upon any discriminatory factors, it would not guarantee me that I would be selecting the most qualified candidate for the open position. I always chose the person I felt could do the best job and help my team the most at work. If I did anything other than that, I would be doing a disservice to the company and myself. Although, I do know that not everyone or every company makes the same kinds of unbiased choices.

When I tried to determine a candidate's age, it came into play because I wanted to know how I should conduct the interview and form my own expectations based upon their experience. For example, if I were interviewing a younger person, I may have felt more comfortable referencing their recent college years and asking them questions based upon their course of study. If I were preparing to interview an older candidate, my questions would be focused more on their work history experience.

Sly, You are right on the money! I recently saw some material my daughter received from college administrators and professors and was stunned at the errors in spelling and grammar. We are too quick to let our computers spell for us.

That is disappointing, Harold. And that is what truly annoys and aggravates me these days----the very CASUAL world we live in where grammatical errors seem unimportant and trivial. I really wonder if our future generations will be able to pull a resume together without referencing text language like BTW and LOL!

Steve, You are doing absolutely the right thing getting others to review your resume. the more the merrier!

Tell me about it, Steve. I can proofread my own blog or article many times and sometimes not catch an error until post-publication. And spellcheckers are the worst offenders accepting "for" when you meant "or", or other "correctly spelled words" that just don't make contextual sense.

Laura, I wish patch would allow you to edit your replies. After I hit submit I see a typo. If it is real bad I will delete and re-post. Or sometimes I just let it go and hope people understand that this is informal writing. :-)

Steve, and sometimes it's informal writing on an smartphone which adds a unique spelling flair to posts all of its own! LOL

Harold, what about employment dates? Not to hard to figure out someones general age by their jobs dates. I also did some resume reviewing for mangers before. I think HR should remove the name when you first screen candidates as well. It is very easy on the subconscious level to get gender and other bias from someone's name.

I should add that I do not see the bias and gender issues every day but often enough to keep my eyes and ears open for warning signs.

Responding to Laura's reply to Curt: I always try to keep in mind a candidate's experience level when pre-screening for my clients but, at the same time, I always make sure that the candidate ultimately fits all the skills sets and experience levels needed by the client because that is actually what will result in a hiring situation.

Michael, Welcome to The Patch! It is definitely a great place to keep up on local news and share your thoughts on a variety of topics!

John, thanks for sharing this information! Networking groups are a great resource for those re-entering the workforce!