If you’re over 40, you may be trying to figure out how to not look old… at least on your resume. Before going off the deep end worrying about it, take a few minutes to understand how dates on your resume help an employer guess your age. You may discover you don’t have anything to worry about.
Dates and Age on Your Resume
We all know age discrimination’s illegal, but like it or not, employers are going to try to figure out how old you are by the dates on your resume. You see, most employers have an age in mind for the perfect candidate for a job. That ideal age is based on salary, skill level, ability to supervise or be supervised, and maybe the amount of life experience it takes to do the job. (By the way, age discrimination works both ways, you know — too old or too young.) So use your dates to tell the employer that you could be the ideal age for the job, regardless of your actual age.
How to Not Look Old on Your Resume
Here’s an easy way to make the right impression. I call it my EPT (Experience Plus Twenty) formula.
Imagine what age the employer would like the ideal candidate to be. Then subtract 20 from that age… and you’ll get the number of years of experience you should show on your resume.
For example, if you think the employer’s looking for someone about 37, you should go back 17 years on your resume. (37 years old minus 20 equals 17). That’s the EPT formula.
Check out these sample resumes from job seekers who used this formula because they felt they needed to figure out how to not look old — older than employers want — on their resumes.
More on Resume Writing:
I Have No Job. What Should I Put on My Resume?
No Fancy Business! A Simple Resume Template Is Best
What’s the Top Resume Format?
