By CARRIE MASON-DRAFFEN, New York Newsday [email protected]
DEAR CARRIE: I am writing regarding what I think is possible employment age discrimination, and I would like to know if I am correct. When a position is advertised as a “junior” one, as in a “junior legal secretary,” am I correct in assuming that a company is seeking someone younger? This seems to be widespread in job advertisements, and it angers me. I am looking for a legal secretary job. And I saw ads for two “legal junior” secretaries on a job board recently, one requiring one to five years of experience, the other asking for one to two years. So I’m assuming that means young, which I am not. Is this discrimination? — Ad Anger
DEAR AD ANGER: I asked a career expert to weigh in on this one. The ads you encountered might not be as sinister as you think.
“When the ad says ‘junior’ they are giving you an indication of the salary they are willing to pay,” said Kate Wendleton, president of the Five O’Clock Club, a Manhattan-based career-management and outplacement firm. “Generally speaking, those who are older also earn more. Older workers have to determine whether their salaries are keeping them out of work.”
For you as a job seeker, she said, it is important to avoid confusing age discrimination with salary bias.
“Salary discrimination is not the same as age discrimination,” she said. “If salary seems to be getting in the way of finding employment, job hunters can change the salaries they demand.”
Wendleton cites the example of David, a 66-year-old former executive just hired at the Five O’Clock Club for a position that was “very junior” compared with his 30-plus years of high-level experience.
“But he wanted the senior customer-service job we posted, and we hired David over the younger people we interviewed because he brought a wealth of experience we would not be able to find in a younger person,” she said. “And he was willing and eager to work for the pay we were offering. David has now been with us over nine months. He’s happy, and we’re happy.”
She said that part of your pitch should be to allay prospective employers’ fears that you’ll take off when a higher-paying job opens up, so you have to reassure them that you really want the job.
“For example, David told us that he no longer wanted the stress of an executive position and did not want to sit at home,” she said. “This was the first career change he ever made in his life, and he did it at age 66. So we knew he was not going to leave as soon as a senior executive job opened up.”
If you’re willing to work at a “junior” salary, she suggests making a pitch like this: “I have X number of years of experience, and I want to work for you because your firm has a good reputation. I know that in the long run I’ll be treated fairly because of what I bring to the party. I want to work forever (another possible concern of theirs when hiring an older person), and I’d love this place to be my new career. If you hire me, you will get not only someone with tremendous experience, but someone who can mentor some of the younger people. I hope you’ll choose to have someone with tremendous experience on your staff.”
