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Ageism

 
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I've noticed - now that recruiters can't ask your age, they ask what year you graduated from college. Give the wrong answer and they lose interest.

Of course, the recruiters are only responding to their clients, the hiring companies. Once employers interview you, you count in the EEO statistics, so they screen for age up front.

A friend of mine, nearly a math PhD with a lifetime of solid IT experience, was turned down for a programming job even though he offered to work without a contract or benefits for just over the minimum wage.

I really don't understand this. Do you?
 
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Sure, I understand it like I understand the gravitational force between two bodies is proportional to the product of the two masses divided by the square of the radius between them. IE, it is easy to see and it is easy to measure.

Why do the two masses attract each other? That's a more vexing question.

They took some children and showed them the faces of two people side by side and asked them which of these two would you like to be friends with.
Are you familiar with the experiment?

Then there is the picture of the three Neanderthals side by side. Under the first is the caption See no Evil. Under the second the caption is Speak no Evil. Under the third is Hear no Evil.

Search this forum for age discrimination for more evil.
 
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Originally posted by Mike Gershman:

A friend of mine, nearly a math PhD with a lifetime of solid IT experience, was turned down for a programming job even though he offered to work without a contract or benefits for just over the minimum wage.



Obviously I don't know the details, but he sounds very overqualified for the job. Math PhD's, especially ones with experience, will not stay at a job paying just above min wage. He'd probably be looking for a new job even before he starts this one. It's not in the employer's interest to retain him.

--Mark
 
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I worked with quite a few PhDs and of course they were given more challenging assignments them BScs but still doing just coding. Nothing spectacular that BSc would not be able to do. None of them quit, some of them got laid off in 2001.
 
Mike Gershman
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Some people really like to write programs.

My friend has all the money he needs, he just wanted to program. He would have worked for free but that's illegal. Of course, the company was free to pay him more, but it didn't matter.
 
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Originally posted by Mike Gershman:
Some people really like to write programs.

My friend has all the money he needs, he just wanted to program. He would have worked for free but that's illegal. Of course, the company was free to pay him more, but it didn't matter.



Hey! I resemble that remark!

Actually, I've gone on record that I'd fully support Richard Stallman's contention that all software should be free, providing all housing, groceries, etc. were free. In the mean time, alas, they're not giving me fat grants, so I have to demand a paycheck occasionally.
 
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"nearly a math PhD", as a Math major myself, I am curious about this phrase?
 
Mike Gershman
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"nearly a math PhD", as a Math major myself, I am curious about this phrase?


He completed the coursework but didn't submit his thesis.
 
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