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1. Focus on ability, not age perform a job or if you may need time off.
Unfortunately ageism is still a problem, says Laura Reilly, director at Taurus HR, advises
James Reed, chief executive of recruitment keeping the reasons for leaving previous
firm Reed.
employment relatively light and positive.
“Despite legislation to prevent age “Once an offer has been received, any
discrimination, older jobseekers can still face disclosures can be made - including if
bias,” he admits.
reasonable adjustments need to be made for
He suggests shifting the focus away from your you,” she says.
age and onto your ability wherever you can.
Yvonne Smyth from recruitment firm Hays
While you shouldn’t lie about your age, there’s says that if you are asked to complete
no need to highlight it either,” he says. a workplace adjustment assessment or
form, that is the time to disclose any health
“Consider streamlining your CV and taking out information you feel may have an impact on
older experience that dates back more than 10 your work. But that is usually a little further
years, or omit dates in the section listing your along in the interview process.
education.”
3. Update your skills
Employers are allowed to ask for your date
of birth, to see whether they are attracting Older workers can often face prejudicial
a wide range of candidates, for example. questions around digital literacy and skills,
But they should keep this separate from the James Reed says.
application, says the charity Age UK. For that reason he says it’s worthwhile
polishing skills in areas valued by employers.
2. Be open about any relevant health
concerns He says things like using news alerts to keep
If health is the reason you left your last job, it up with developments in any given field can
can be tricky. But you don’t have to mention it help you stand out from the crowd during the
at interview, unless it could affect your work in interview process.
the future.
Taking voluntary opportunities can also boost
Petra Tagg, director at Manpower, says it’s up your skills as you effectively get on-the-job
to you to decide how much information you training in whatever technology is used, says
share. Stuart Lewis, chief executive of Rest Less, a
website that provides resources for jobs and
“There’s no need to disclose a history of volunteering for the over-50s.
illness if it won’t affect your ability to perform
your duties,” she says. He also advises making it clear in your
application that you’re interested in new
However, she says be truthful about health challenges and learning new skills.
concerns that may affect your ability to
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