How Your Age 40+ Resume Smells Like Deception

You're not alone ... most age 40+ job seekers have been taught to make this mistake.

The reason why your resume will almost always smell like deception when you're over 40, is because you try to hide your age on your resume. Outplacement, most career coaches/authors, and most resume writers encourage this deception, telling you it will help beat ageism.

This rarely works because it's deceptive, it's based on a misunderstanding of how employers screen for age, and easy to get caught.

And employers can smell this age deception in a number of different ways ... here's how:

1. ATSs Can Screen Out Deceptive Resumes: Employer resume screening databases can be used to screen out resumes that exclude information, like dates, where they are expected.
2. Stands Out Like A Red Flag To Readers: By the time a recruiter, HR rep, or hiring manager gets to the part of your resume that shows your early career and education (the things you hide), they're now paying attention and reading every word. When you exclude dates it's a red flag to someone who is used to reading resumes. Also, it's part of recruiters'/HR reps' jobs to screen out candidates who are hiding information.
3. Makes You Look Untrustworthy: Your readers can see that you're hiding something, but they don't know why. But guess who else hides information early in their careers? Candidates who are trying to hide jail time and other really bad things also create gaps, and hide them by excluding dates - You're presenting yourself in a similar way.
4. Ruins Your Interviews: I've never yet seen a candidate that can pull off a 5 year age difference in person (and it's worse on video), certainly not 10, 15, or 20 years. When your resume gives employers the perception that you're younger and then you show up ... and you're not ... it almost always backfires, because you can't build trust when you're caught in deception.

Good thing there are much more effective ways to beat ageism than being deceptive in how you describe yourself, when you're in your 40's, 50's, 60's and older.

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/register 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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