Age 40+ Job Seeker And Getting Interviews ... Are They Real Or Fake?

It's good to be in your 40s, 50s, and 60s+ and getting job interviews ... unless they're fake interviews.

It can be easy to fall into a false sense of security, feeling that your job search is going well because you're getting interviews, until you realize that you're getting a lot of fake interviews.

It's not uncommon that all of the interviews an age 40+ job seeker gets are fake.

These fake interviews may not seem fake, but they haven't progressed, or you were a finalist but other candidates always seem to get the offer (especially less experienced candidates).

A common reason most of your interviews haven't progressed or you're not landing offers is because the interviews you've gotten don't represent real opportunities.

While fake job interviews can affect all job seekers, you're far more likely to land fake interviews when you're over 40. That's because there are additional reasons employers will assign fake interviews to older candidates.

Look back on your interviews critically to get a better clue about the fake interviews you've been given by employers:

• Compliance: Compliance interviews are chosen by HR to inflate numbers they report to government. These are interviews that HR gives to candidates who over 40, unemployed or from traditionally discriminated against groups. Because the employer gave you the interview for reasons other than interest in hiring you (purpose was to "juice" demographic interview numbers enough to meet government requirements), these are interviews that give you zero chance of a getting an offer, but a high chance of wasting your time and misdirecting your search efforts.
• Comparison/Courtesy: Most companies require hiring managers to do basic due diligence before making offers. By the time you've applied (even if you apply immediately when a job is posted), the hiring manager already has identified top choices. HR picks comparison interviews so the hiring manager can meet due diligence policies, to compare to the top candidates already identified by the hiring manager?(sometimes already hired them before your interview). You hope that your comparison interview progresses to backup.
• Backup: Sometimes, the hiring manager's top choices all turn down the job, so they need a plan B candidate. This backup candidate may get to a finalist round, but rarely lands the job ... unless all the top candidates turn it down. To boil it down, you're trying to come in 4th place, hope that candidates 1-3 all turn down the job, and you win by default (Don't those sound like terrible odds of success?).

The best way to avoid these types of fake interviews are to avoid the HR hiring process. Instead, learn how to find jobs in the same way hiring managers find almost all of the people they hire.

You would already be doing this if you knew how and you'd avoid most fake interviews given to age 40, 50, and 60+ job seekers ...

If you're sick of fake interviews, failing to progress in the hiring process, and being screened out because you're over 40, let me show you more effective ways to beat ageism during my next free webinar. I'll teach you many things you're used to doing in job search (things you think will work) that instead cause you to lose opportunities.

I help people solve the most difficult job search problems, including job search acceleration, getting past ATSs, ageism, remote positions, product/job function/career/industry/ geographic change, unemployment, "bouncy" recent career path, job search turnaround, seeking raise/promotion, industry in decline/consolidation, long term gaps, family leave, or other of the most challenging job search issues.

Join me for my next free Resume Webinar (enroll at https://x.resumewebinar.com/Registration for no charge) and learn how to accelerate your job search, so you can find your next job faster in 2024.

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