Why IT workers are lying about their age.

It would seem that not only are young, thrusting, go getting, all night clubbers just about to leave UNI having problems finding an opening in the IT industry but sober, experience rich, knowledgable people with well documented and proven track records also encounter problems in the job market.

Who can afford to cast aside such valuable resources and still expect to run a profitable business? Now read on.

Why IT workers are lying about their age
By Kim Thomas
Published: March 30 2005 03:00 | Last updated: March 30 2005 03:00

Tony Wells has 30 years' experience of working in information technology, in jobs ranging from programming to senior management. Two years ago the 49-year-old decided to look for a new job and began sending his CV to recruitment agencies. In the year that followed, not a single agency called him back. As an experiment, he changed his age on his CV to 30 and had five phone calls within three days.

His experience is not unique. Two months ago Mr Wells set up an internet support group for older IT professionals who are finding it hard to get work. It now has 60 members, many of whom feel frustrated and angry at the discrimination towards the over-40s they feel is rife in the IT sector.

One member, Ruth Blackwell, who had worked continuously as an IT contractor for 14 years, lost her job in 2002 at the age of 44 and has not been able to find work since. Some agencies, she says, "said that they could not put me forward for permanent vacancies because of my age" while individual agents "made it plain that they did not want to be bothered with me".

Another member, with 25 years' experience, reports being told by agencies that he is "over-experienced" and has "too many qualifications". At the same time, the industry is reporting a shortage of skilled staff. Is it possible that a sector desperately in need of qualified staff would turn down suitable candidates because of their age?

There is some evidence to support Mr Wells's argument. A 2002 report from the Department of Work and Pensions noted that 56 per cent of IT employees are aged 35 or under, compared to 38 per cent in the workforce as a whole, while an earlier survey by the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) and Silicon.com, an IT website, found that 31 per cent of those responsible for recruitment decisions in IT "considered age in the recruitment process". Mike Rodd, director of external relations at the British Computer Society, also reports that many older members find it hard even to get interviews.

In October 2006, new laws against age discrimination come into place, and the IT sector will have to rethink its recruitment processes. Nonetheless, the impact of the new rules may not be immediate. Ann Swain, chief executive of the Association of Technology Staffing Companies, a trade body, argues that age discrimination in IT tends to be unconscious rather than deliberate: "I think there is a view that someone recruits a person like themselves. And because of the nature of IT, that has generally been someone 28 to 35, male, a graduate from a decent university. It's not because they don't want older people, they just don't think about it that much."

Another explanation, put forward by Mr Wells and others, is that employers and recruitment agencies have far too narrow a focus on finding candidates with particular technical skills. IT is a fast-moving industry, and the skills required of software developers change all the time.

Currently, the sector is experiencing a shortage of programmers skilled in recent technologies, such as the Java and XML programming languages. Employers looking for experts in these areas specify skills to recruitment agencies, who in turn use text-search software to match keywords in CVs against employer requirements.

A more intelligent approach, says Mr Wells, would be to recruit people on the basis of ability and experience, rather than particular skills: "Programming gets easier and faster, and new languages take two to three weeks to acquire."

Mr Wells is also critical of a culture that automatically moves capable programmers out of programming jobs into management positions, a culture that he says is in part responsible for the current skills shortage. "There's a problem at interviews, which is the question: 'You're over 45 - why aren't you the MD of your own company?' Well, not everyone wants to be MD of a company, and not everyone wants to go into management; some people just want to do the job they do very well."

The problem of age discrimination is compounded by the fact that the IT sector has a high proportion of staff in contract positions. Older contractors who lost their jobs after the dotcom collapse in 2000 have found themselves without redundancy packages, without company pensions and with little hope of finding new work.

Ms Blackwell has since enrolled for a postdoctoral course but says she is "dreading" a return to the job market in 2007. She cannot afford to retire.

If Mr Wells is right, then the problem of ageism in IT will be solved only when employers begin to rethink the recruitment process. The irony is, he says, "employment practices in IT are causing the skills shortage. The fast pace of change is a red herring".

 

How can lie about your change though? Surely the NI number can trace your real date of birth? Also there are sites on the internet where you can find out the person real dob not the one they are pretending to have.

I am very worried, my website is produced in ASP.NET so at least .NET is a new technology, one of my assignments is also to produce an ASP.NET site which uses XML web services. I suppose once I have made this site and can demonstrate it to employers that will help.

Quite a lot of my lecturers are people who were in the IT industry but got forced out because of their age, one of them is just 36, he has a PhD and is a university acemdic who has published books so I am sure he is still doing nicely though.

I am a bit worried about the state of the industry to be honest but then I am not going into it for the money. I am going into it becuase you know at 8 years old when the only interest you have in your Commodore 64 is programming what you want to do for the rest of your life!

 

Tesco's stacking shelves for me then

 

This I fear is at most a minor problem, a far bigger problem in my view is that people with both suitable knowledge and experience that fit the requirements of the position on offer are dismissed out of hand by the use of unsophisticated recruitment policies and procedures. I wonder just how much the accumulated effect of these actions has on the bottom line of all companies looking to fill a position?

 

There is a danger that people assume just becuase you haven't been to university for 20 years you skill set is out of date. For my final year project I had to learn a completly new language by myself to proove that I can apply fundemental principles to any new technology. So when Zepha Poly Object Oriented programming comes out I will be able to teach myself it.

OOf course any good programmer is capable of learning new technologies without having to be retrained. I don't see what the big problem is about employing older people other than they want more money.

There is no way a 40 year old would be willing the job I will probably end up doing for £16k.

 

I think if you show that your willing to learn new technologies and regually take courses this must show as a good thing to an employer, keeping your skill set up to date is very important, no point applying for a job that requires Java skills if you only ever programmed in COBOL (remember that!), I think the only way to survivie is this dog eat dog world is to keep on top of new developments / technologies, but then you can kiss goodbye to your social life! In IT terms I'm already over the hill as I'm over 30 now, all the contractors working in our team are all under 30, I'm the old man now, how crap does that make me feel! I am thankful I'm perminant staff and not a contractor, sod that!

 

I guess you can make so much money though that when you retire at 30 you can do what you want, setup your own business, go into teaching or join a band

Although I will hopefulyl work in the I.T industry for the next 5-10 years I really don't want to do it long term in fear of becoming a real geek. If my DJ thing takes of then I guess I will have that social life so my 9-5 job won't matter so much.

 

I think you have rather vivid imagination of just how much we get paid ! Retire at 30! ya I'm not Bill Gates! I had my pension thing through this week, even if I work till I'm 65 (2039), I'll get a whopping £7k a year to live on, wow, whopidy f**king do, really worth all my hard work, long hours, I'm supposed to live on that!

Ha, ha, retire at 30, I'm earn less thatn £20k a year, you've got to be f**king joking

 

When I finished my furter education in the middle 70s I and many, many others thought that due the the glut of North Sea oil revenues flowing into the exchequers coffers a life of never ending leisure would await all who reached the grand old age of 30.

Alas, more Logan's Run than Lotus Eaters

 

I didn't mean retire at 30 like stop working I mean't just do another job. There are loads of lecturers who have done this, they wrked stupid amounts of anti social hours in their 20's so now they have a lot more free time.

My part time job would be about £18k if it was full time and including bonuses (i.e if a website I produce wins an award). However I probably get paid more because its part time, if it was full time it probably would only be about £16k.

How much I get paid probably simply depends on how many other people have the same niche as me, i.e capable of producing sites to WAI AAA standard. Its mainly local government agencies that want these skills, and public sector jobs don't tend to be well paid.

All the people I know in the industry all seem to get well paid though. By well paid I mean between £20-£30k.

I'm hoping to start on between £12-£16k, but this should hopefully quickly rise. My biggest problem will be getting a job in the first place.

 

I earn about 28k - lead a simple life and yet I don't have a great deal of cash...I am thinking about my future by investing a bit of cash, but only because I have to...

tho, I'm not skint, and I can do what I want etc, but I would like more cash...a big lump sum would be nice!

 

I think a career in IT is no different to any other these days in respect of agism. I'd also add that your IT career is what you make of it. If you have skills that are actually in demand (as opposed to suggested as in demand by the press) then if you're any good and can present yourself both in appearance (not necessarily pretty, just human looking), as well as verbally and in written-form, you should be ok.

When we recruit we look for rounded individuals - people who can communicate, present, write proposals and documentation and who can pick up and run with programming languages. We dont just look for someone with "XML" or "Java", but then if we have a project which requires an extra pair of hands, it does come down to "can you do xxxx from Monday?"

 

The thing is, once you're on £30K, you realise its f*ck all. In fact most contractors I know who earn around £80K (gross) find it evens out when they take into account unpaid holidays and gaps between contracts.

My advice:
whilst looking for work and you're living on a low or non existant income you have time on your hands so... use it to find/take on a project for someone - lots of work done cheaply - yes you are being exploited but try and turn that into a customer case study. Use it to try to acrue a real client - go self-employed, but try and avoid contracting where possible, unless just to keep you funded - be prudent and try to keep cash rather than spend it.

Over time try to build your client base, always exceed their expectations and be available night and day for support, tweaks, etc. As things progress take on a new graduate at £12 - 15K pa, train them with you, get them working for you and making you money, treat them well, but expect them to leave; if they dont its a bonus. You could end up with a small team of loyal and happy staff if you play your cards right.

Over time its possible to build a secure, if small, business but a basis for growth. If you stay with software development keep your eyes open for gaps in the market for new products. Its possibe to build stability for your income and future which doesnt depend upon a "job" and in fact most jobs in IT are both not very highly paid and are generally insecure so worrying too much about the insecurity of self-emplyment is pointless.

You could end up with a business which has some value - if you wanted to sell you could end up with a substantial windfall - but provides you with an income along the way. To me this path is a happier, more fullfilling and more profitable one and has so far panned out pretty well for me over the past four years, plus I've a big mortgage, a wife and four kids to worry about.

Jobs suck.

 

Yeah I want to be self employed anyway but its not really a could idea to setup a business without much commerical experience. I know from my part time job the work is very unreliable, although the work is great when I get it. I once got paid £300 including bonuses for a weekend job, basicaly this site had to produced in a weekend, so I had to it at home as the office was shut.

I was earning somthing like £13-£15 an hour to work in the luxery of my own bedroom, if only I had them contracts every weekend I would be loaded by now.

 

Greg is spot on imho, having a mega wage for say 12 weeks a year sure looks good but spread over the rest of the year spent resting, building your contracts, attending self financed training gigs and scratching your head wondering when the next wage cheque do brings the yearly rate down somewhat. I can't stress too much just how much you need to build your business and yes doing something for costs plus one pound is ok just as long as you don't do it all the time.

I don't know if you are allergic to older people dressed in suits who get out of bed early to attend meetings (bit USA'ish) but The BNI may be a place to see and be seen and according to google they have loads of meetings dotted all over the country and may well help when trying to grow your contacts.

 

As a recent IT Graduate in my 30s I'm sick of seeing IT Graduate roles advertised where they want 1 to 3 years commercial experience and a list of languages and skill sets as long as your arm. Oh yes don't forget young and dynamic with a keen interest in sport as well. You will be assimilated......

I feel better now.

 

Yep this why I am determining to do it differently, I am going to get some kind of decent living out of it, I am not saying I want to be rich, just enough money to buy a house or even a flat.

I am going to this fair in Manchester in June where they have employers who want graduates now for real jobs now. I.e they are not the usual graduate fairs you get at GMEX want 5 million grade A levels and a 1st in Engineering from Cambridge.