Your phone can communicate even when turned off
➔ It’s against the law for employers to discriminate in hiring based on age. We all know that. So do they.
It’s not against the law, however, for them to cajole you to determine if you’re up to the task.
It’s not against the law to be sneaky
One huge prejudice that hiring managers have against older job seekers is their belief that technology has passed you by. When they lay that trap, be ready to tip toe around it. Don’t play into their stereotypes.
For example, when they say, “Show me your cell phone,” what they really want to know is has this candidate kept up technology. When they ask that question and you hand over your flip phone (vs a smart phone), the message you’re sending is that you’re old, you’re set in your ways and you’re unwilling to try something new.
Likewise when they look at your resume and they see your email address as: imsoold@aol.com. Same message. You set up that email address with aol in 1994 and ever since, you haven’t seen fit to upgrade, to try something new, to experiment, etc.
Another dead giveaway is your phone number. Even you ditched your land line and your mobile phone is your only phone, if you include your area code in parentheses – (212) 555-1212 – you are so old, you probably spend your Saturday nights listening to Snooky Lanson on re-runs of Your Hit Parade. Today’s telephone numbers are ten digits, plain and simple. The contemporary way to display a phone number is with dots or hyphens – 212.555.1212 or 212-555-1212. Although either is acceptable, personally, we prefer the dots. It looks cleaner and easier to read, and it’s been the European standard for some time now.
And if you don’t know who Snooky Lanson is (or was), good for you. You’re not as old as you think.
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