How I was discriminated against
The unemployment office that I go to-on more than one occasion has told me "well your age isn't really helping you obtain a job"
I couldn't believe that a state agency was saying that to me. They have told me to "tone down" my resume' (ie) not put all of my experience on there-I have been only 2 companies my entire life so it's either 4 1/2 years or 15+ years which one did they want me to use.
What it's like being an older or younger job seeker
It's awful-there are laws that prohibit questions about your age but companies have learned how to get around that. Asking when you graduated college is a no-brainer to narrow down someone's age. Also putting all of your work experience-that's another way to get the information. Think that is should be limited to past 10 years or something has to be done to prohibit these type of things that occur. Had 2 banks tell me that I was "too experienced" & that I would get bored working there-I didn't care I just wanted to work. It's no different than trying to obtain a part-time job that you most likely haven't done in over 15-20+ years.
If you look at the unemployment offices & statistics it will easily prove that the majority of people are over 40 if not 45+. These are people with tons of experience but companies don't want to hire them but instead undercut pay by a recent college grad or someone with little/no experience so they can bottom out their pay. It's just completely & utterly frustrating-never have I looked for a job in my life-just applied & got them. Not that way anymore.
Lessons Learned
- Don't know where to turn @ this point. Just worried about benefits running out & how I will feed/house my children. Afraid that their father will take them away from me due to my financial situation.
