There will come a time when the world will be more accepting of hiring people, who are considered too old, into various positions and not just be fixated on the ‘younger crowd’. Before then, what happens to those people who are actually skilled at their jobs but cannot land a proper job in great companies and organizations as a result of their ages?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), age is not a reliable indicator when judging a worker’s potential productivity or employability.

Lingo Africa, the foremost human capital development platform in Nigeria, has always been a great advocate for getting jobs to people of all ages, across the world.

We have in the past, advised some of our clients who have faced discrimination in the workplace just because they were said to be too old. One of them is a 56-year-old woman who has all the recent certifications for her area of expertise, but was unable to get a job after she resigned from her last job.

She had applied to so many available jobs and she would always exempt her age from her resume. So, the rejection usually came during the interview process.

At a point, she got tired of the usual phrase “we are sorry to say that you are not a great fit for this role, as we seek someone more energetic”!

She told one of our counselors that she really wanted to keep working until she turned 65, but was unable to find an employer that was willing to take her on. So, our counselor talked to her about her skills and the general sentiment surrounding older job candidates.

Our counselor advised her to seek consulting roles as she was considered too old for regular jobs. This was a great idea, as she had spent about 20 years performing tasks and achieving a lot in her area of expertise.

Six months down the line, she was able to land a consulting contract with a company that was in need of her expertise. Through her consulting contract, she got another offer from a foreign company that wanted her to work as an advisor for one of their brands. This way, she found her professional value once again.

It is a brutal truth that companies and organizations find it hard to hire candidates who are considered too old, but, there are other ways to navigate this challenge. We would never advise anyone to just give up and surrender to the challenges they face today.

There is always a way out. If you find yourself getting older and wanting to get a new job or transition to another industry, you can do it. You just need to look for ways to make it work.

Everyone is valuable. You are valuable.

Source - https://lingoafrica.com/considered-too-old-for-a-job-how-about-trying-out-other-alternatives/

Lingo Africa.

This is so insightful, thanks so much bro !

Really nice article

Thank you for reading!

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