The New Age is Mature Age

My how times flies. A recent situation caused me to think about an article I wrote in relation to hiring mature aged candidates. I thought I had written it last year but it was November 2017!

The article focused on the skills shortage and the debate about the benefits or disadvantages of hiring a mature aged candidate and was inspired by experiences with career transition clients and within my family.

Recently I had the privilege of sitting with a client who has transitioned from a role held for decades to a new role. This transition was due to a business restructure and had nothing to do with their ability or performance. My client thought her age would have been a hindrance, yet she had three offers of employment at one time before making her choice.

Three offers was a great result. My client had her own reasoning for why she received those offers. Her long tenure of employment with one organisation, her experience and knowledge, reliability and maturity.

What I saw was also a good news story.

And you wouldn’t believe it, that very night there was a story on the national news about the rise in the hiring of mature age candidates. Some of the very reasons my client raised were also highlighted as well as being punctual and resilient. Mature age candidates will find a way to do a job, they won’t just have one way.

Some of the reasons I had been given previously for not hiring older candidates is ‘they are stuck in their ways’, ‘it is difficult to get them to do things differently’, ‘they have baggage’ and ‘it’s hard to tell them what to do’. Is that true for everyone? I will reiterate what I said back in 2017. If you provide role clarity, set the expectations correctly and provide consistent communication regarding performance, is there not a fair chance for success?

So before you rule someone out because of their age, maybe consider the benefit of their experience, knowledge and work ethic being shared with your business before the opportunity is lost.