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"Age Discrimination?"

  • chessmate2
    Posted: Oct 02, 2008 12:06 AM
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    chessmate2
    Springfield, IL
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    Any words of advice for someone who thinks their company is age-discriminating? Only the young people advance, and the new boss (30 yrs old) just replaced the former boss who was 55.

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  • #1
    Bonnie
    Posted: Oct 29, 2008 10:12 AM
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    Bonnie
    Vacaville, CA
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    If you want to stay with that company, even though they appear to give preferential treatment to younger workers, you may have to work harder to demonstrate your value.

    There are stereotypes about older workers (resistent to change; set in their ways; reluctant to learn new tools, programs, processes; unwilling to take advice from younger workers; more likely to have medical problems; etc.).

    None of those are fair, but that doesn't mean they won't work against you... so you need to counteract them.

    Go out of your way to show you ARE open to new things, you are enthusiastic about change, you value the opinions of your younger co-workers, etc. Try to show energy and enthusiasm in everything you do. Focus on how you can be a valuable asset to the company. Use your experience to help the company and the young new boss achieve their goals. See what I mean?

    Yes, it means you'll probably need to work harder than your younger counterparts just to maintain your position. If this doesn't appeal to you, start looking for another job. But in this economy, finding another job and starting over with a new company may be much more difficult than making the best of where you are.

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