Ageism: Avoiding the Folks with the Wrong Experience

[Michael Andrew Uhl <uhl -at- VISLAB -dot- EPA -dot- GOV>]

Esteemed colleagues:

When looking at a resume from an experienced person, or
interviewing that person, the key factors to look at are
not the total years of experience or age of the person.
Rather, look at the *kind* of experience. Agency recruiters
avoid many of the people let go from large companies such
as IBM and AT&T because, unless these people have a skill
that is in high demand, they're not worth the hassle.
Their work mentality has been corrupted by the large-company-
bureaucracy mindset. Too many of the people who spent a
decade or more in a paternalistic or smothering giant corp.
have become risk-averse and reactionary.

The *kind* of experience one has and how it has shaped that
person's attitude about work and their profession is what's
key.

On the other hand...

The bean counters worry about peoples' age because they don't
see them as human beings; they see them as health care expenses.

Life is a bitch. All I can say is, let's fight like hell against
the bean counters, luddites, and bigots. Let's light a candle...
though I admit, too often I find myself cursing the darkness
instead.

-Mike
--

Michael Andrew Uhl, Lead Technical Writer (uhl -at- vislab -dot- epa -dot- gov)
Lockheed Martin, Primary Support Contractor to US EPA
Scientific Visualization Center
National Environmental Supercomputing Center (NESC)
U.S. EPA Environmental Research Center
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina