age discrimination aged 40 or aged 35

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If a person does not have a career or career related experience by a certain age, it could be a problem At aged 40 in the UK there is age discrimination, if I have no career related experience I will be rejected because it is hard to change careers at the age of 40.

I have a degree, postgraduate qualification, a professional qualification and I. am studying to be a statistician/data analyst.

I have temporary / casual jobs but not long term career related employment. I may do an MSc in statistics.

I am aged 31. I live in a small town, 30 miles from London, UK. I want to become a statistician / data analyst where there is a growing demand and my communication skills are less important. I have very mild AS. I come down on communication. I have dyspraxia.

Hello ALADDIN_1978,

My fingers are crossed for you.

Here in the U.S., we have age discrimination too. Our laws prohibit it (defined as discriminating against someone aged 40 or over), but that doesn't mean it doesn't persist. On the other hand, many employers are happy to have older workers especially if they are more mature.

One thing you can do is "youthenize" your resume:

* Don't list all the experience you have; stick to the most recent five or ten years (or if you are/were at your current/most recent job for more than ten years, you may just want to list that) unless you have a strong reason for including an older job.

* Also, cut out the obsolete technology, such as BASIC and WordStar. (You should also consider omitting WordPerfect unless you're applying to a government or law office; at least in the U.S. many such offices still use WordPerfect.) Meanwhile, make sure to learn and then list current technology, such as Windows XP and the like.

* If you've been out of school for at least ten years and the job doesn't have an explicit education requirement, cut out the education part. Whatever degrees you do include, leave the dates off.

If it does have an educational requirement but it's well below your attainment; eg you get your MSc and the job only requires a school-leaving certificate (Master's degree and high school diploma respectively for U.S. readers), leave the higher degree off the resume. Remember that employers may reject applicants who seem overqualified; they may not want to import people with graduate studies into a workplace where the bulk of the people there struggle through community college.

The idea here is that even if the employer can tell you're older when you come in for the interview, by that stage it will be harder to eliminate you than if they know your age while your resume is still one of hundreds (if not thousands) they have for a single opening.

Also, network, network, network. Less comfortable for Aspies, I know. The realities of today's labor market dictate that for professional jobs, you can choose between net-working and not-working.

What do you think?

In the UK I will be rejected for being overqualified for many non - graduate jobs. Graduate jobs are always competitive. Many graduates in the UK are under-employed. My call centre have links to major food and drink manufacturers , they say they will get me in when I have relevant experience.

I am not the best at networking. I can do it but I have to have relevant experience and skills. I do not have a Masters degree but more than half a Masters degree. The job market is tough. I am tutoring students and undertaking market research interviews bt I want a career related job.