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Employers: Choose the best person for the job, regardless of their age.

Guest post by: Bill Wynn

Article Overview: Bill Wynn, Managing Director of Project Resource, discusses why employers should choose the best person for the job, regardless of their age. As the population gets older, wants to work loger, or work more flexible, employers need to realise this and take advantage of the experience these older workers can bring.

Employers: Choose the best person for the job, regardless of their age.

Having worked in recruitment since 1996, I have experienced a lot, seen and heard a lot, yet always expect each day to be different and expect there to be a new learning experience just around the corner. Here at Project Resource we have a meritocracy, our employees work in jobs that they are capable of performing, they are promoted based on achievements, success and their capabilities, regardless of all other factors.

Now we live in a very legislative world, which seems to have radically changed even in my young (or old, depending on your viewpoint) lifetime. What are you allowed to say, what are you not? Can you give your opinion publically or not? What is politically correct, what is not? A minefield!

Now ,we all have our own opinions, employers have their opinion; there is the official company line and the personal view of the recruiting manager; sometimes you will know what this is, other times you will not. Employers, although they are not supposed to request a job seeker be of a certain experience or age, invariably this does come out, an employer may say "I envisage the person to be in there 30's" for example. It is still a surprise that when a recruiter knows a job applicant is great for a job, that still, a few employers dismiss this because the candidate is "too old" or "too young" in their mind.

Let us remind ourselves, that the days where the majority of people working for the same company for 20+ years are long gone; 4-5 years seems to be a long time these days. People work longer hours, so want more time off for holidays, or sabbaticals. Semi retirement, professionals working part time, like our non-executive directors, John O'Sullivan and Phil Holt,are more and more common, and with the growing population, the average age of the workforce will increase.

Now, although I and Project Resource do not agree with this mentality, and we try to educate, some people's opinions are not for changing. I am glad to say we have place people in jobs from 18 years old up to 67 years old (permanent and contract jobs). Internally, our recruitment policy is if you can do the job, you can do the job. Ability is key, employers need to have an open mind, flexibility in their recruitment process, to hire the very best person for the job.

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Article Tags: age, bill, experience, hire, job, project, recruitment, recuitment, resource, wynn



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