Getting Hired...Opinion #2500

[Mary Arrotti]

Interviewing is never a no-brainer - poor choice of words on my part. My point was that I do not consider having 10+ years experience to be a negative in & of itself. 
   
  Here's an example, you interview 2 candidates who are an equally good fit with your organization with one difference. That one difference is experience. Candidate X has 10 years of relevant experience and Candidate Y has 6 years of relevant experience. I would hire Candidate X. 
   
  Of course there are instances where I'd pick a 6 year candidate - if they were a better fit in *other* ways. 
   
  I don't believe that it benefits someone to limit their resume to just what they did in the past 9 years. There are ways to handle a lengthly career on a resume. And there are ways to try to mitigate the ageism you might encounter. Others (in this thread and earlier posts) have good advice about this. But leaving out information about skills or experience  you have doesn't make sense to me. Presenting it differently does.
  

"Suzanne R. O'Kelly" <french7suzi at yahoo.com> wrote:
  Well, now, that is a completely different
conversation. And how often is everything equal? The
guy who had the great personality and handshake (10+
years steady tech writing experience and no management
title because he didn't want the hours). The
ex-programmer with a penchant for degrees (5 years as
a writer with a CS and an MIS degree). The mom
returning to FT office with a 12 year old home-based
tech writing business under her belt. All pleasant.
All qualified. Who would you hire? It would depend on
the job, wouldn't it? 

Not really a no-brainer, in my opinion.


--- Mary Arrotti wrote:

> If I followed this advice when I was 33 & with 10
> years experience, I would likely not have received
> some of the job offers I did.
> 
> I can't think of any circumstance where it would
> benefit you to eliminate *relevant* experience from
> your resume or cover letter. 
> 
> And all things being equal, I'd much prefer to
> hire someone with 10+ years experience over someone
> with 6 years experience. For me, that would be a
> no-brainer. 
> 
> Edit your resume and tailor your info for a
> specific job or industry. Remove references to
> outdated tools and extraneous work. Make your resume
> tight & easy-to-read. And (if you fear ageism) then
> focus attention away from dates and years.
> 
> But you can't expect to get the big(ger) money if
> you don't show 'em what you got.
> 
> "Suzanne R. O'Kelly" wrote:
> No one's resume needs to
> go back more than 10 years, and frankly, I can't
> believe those of you who have been in this rat race
> for as long as you have don't know this. Why?
> Because
> you look old. 
> 
> ---------------------------------
> Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail
beta.



 
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