# Resumes and age discrimination -- don't list "old" jobs? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 9, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resumes-and-age-discrimination-dont-list-old-jobs/542532 "2010-06-09T13:33:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resumes-and-age-discrimination-dont-list-old-jobs/542532/21 "2010-06-10T07:05:34Z")
My first job was in 1964. I don’t even remember all the jobs I’ve had. ---
**Author:** ![StrangeBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@StrangeBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrangeBird)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resumes-and-age-discrimination-dont-list-old-jobs/542532/22 "2010-06-10T07:49:29Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Not in the US. Your height, weight, marital status, whether or not you have kids, and any hobbies other than ones that are directly relevant to the job don’t belong on resumes in the US, either. Nor do we send photographs with our resumes. Ditto Australia, IME. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resumes-and-age-discrimination-dont-list-old-jobs/542532/23 "2010-06-10T09:27:44Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Not in the US. Your height, weight, marital status, whether or not you have kids, and any hobbies other than ones that are directly relevant to the job don’t belong on resumes in the US, either. Nor do we send photographs with our resumes. So who does put photos on CVs? I’d always assumed this was an American practice, as I’ve never heard anybody do it in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resumes-and-age-discrimination-dont-list-old-jobs/542532/24 "2010-06-10T14:03:33Z")
The only time I’ve seen people include photos is for acting or other entertainment type jobs. The vast majority of people don’t include photos with resumes. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resumes-and-age-discrimination-dont-list-old-jobs/542532/25 "2010-06-10T14:16:33Z")
As far as “they will find out anyway” goes, people have really wacky ideas about ages: someone may work in an office surrounded by perfectly competent, perfectly energetic people in their 50s and 60s, but when asked what “someone who graduated college in the early 60s” looks like, they will pull up an image of Betty White. They remember their grandmother at 60, when they themselves were 10, and back then, 60 was “old”. When you show up for the interview looking “normal”, age may not even enter their minds. This is especially true if the first round of resume evaluation is being done by someone in their late 20s, you may honestly not even realize how many of their co-workers are in their 50s and 60s. IME people in their 20s think everyone not gray-haired and using a walker is in their 40s. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resumes-and-age-discrimination-dont-list-old-jobs/542532/26 "2010-06-10T14:22:05Z")
**Manda Jo** is right - I’m 40, and people in their 20s and early 30s always assume I’m “their age.” Miss Clairol is my friend. ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resumes-and-age-discrimination-dont-list-old-jobs/542532/27 "2010-06-10T14:31:20Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > So who does put photos on CVs? I’d always assumed this was an American practice, as I’ve never heard anybody do it in the UK. People in Japan and much of East Asia do. Politically correct ideas about discrimination don’t really exist here. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resumes-and-age-discrimination-dont-list-old-jobs/542532/28 "2010-06-10T14:33:17Z")
On my resume I list all my jobs, but ones older than 10 years usually get 1 or 2 lines. Of course, I develop software and the truth is, in this industry skillsets get stale pretty quickly. ---
**Author:** ![NBYodo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9a28c/32.png) [@NBYodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NBYodo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resumes-and-age-discrimination-dont-list-old-jobs/542532/29 "2010-06-11T07:58:24Z")
> [@Tanaqui](#): > > People in Japan and much of East Asia do. Politically correct ideas about discrimination don’t really exist here. Also pretty much mandatory in Germany as well. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resumes-and-age-discrimination-dont-list-old-jobs/542532/30 "2010-06-11T11:08:00Z")
> [@](#): > > The unemployment office made me go to this job-seekers workshop yesterday, and one piece of advice has left me stumped. The thing about workshops and seminars and lectures is that each speaker has to come up with something new, so they trot out some half-baked idea that they like and expect everyone to exclaim about how innovative it is. Unless you get the same piece of advice from more than one person, just discard it if you don’t think it’s helpful. Just because someone is behind a podium doesn’t mean that s/he’s got all the answers. It just means that s/he’s the one that got hired or volunteered for that workshop or seminar. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resumes-and-age-discrimination-dont-list-old-jobs/542532.md?page=1)