Did you know that the words recruitment executives slip into job adverts might be used intentionally to discourage you from applying – especially if you’re over the age of 50?
Were you aware that “fun” can be viewed as a deterrent to older people seeking work?
A light was shone on recruiters’ strategic approach to vocabulary this week when one of the UK’s largest insurance companies – the Phoenix Group – made headlines for banning words like “energetic” and “enthusiastic” from job ads in order to avoid putting off older applicants.
And there is research to back up this approach. Academics have produced whole lists of words that the public instinctively associate with particular age groups. “Keen”, “curious” and “dynamic” are all about the under 30s, apparently. But for the over 50s think “loyal”, “stable” and “cautious”.
“The language you use in a job advert is really important, you need to understand your target audience and know how best to communicate to them,” says Anna Dalziel, senior vice-president at the Momentum Worldwide advertising agency.
“Asking for things like a certain number of years of experience implies you want someone of a certain age, or using language like ‘fun’ or ‘energetic’ can imply you want someone younger as they hold connotations.”
Not everyone is impressed by such stereotypes. In fact some rail against them. “I can’t really see why older people wouldn’t recognise themselves as being enthusiastic, and innovative,” says Alison Henderson. “It’s nonsense to say that older people can’t be innovative.” As chief executive of the Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce, she is more than qualified than most to know what employers need.
And as someone in her 50s she also knows who her age group has to offer and is not convinced by the Phoenix Group’s fears over words like “energetic”.
“It felt a little bit like political correctness gone mad to even be thinking about having to take those words out of a job advert,” she says. “It doesn’t really matter what the age is. I come across just as many young people that are content to do a good job that that might be worried about having to live up to certain attributes or expectations. It’s ridiculous.”
Employers have good reason for wanting to get older people on their staff. The number of job vacancies in the three months to December 2021 rose to a record high of 1.25 million. At the same time, Government figures show that almost 800,000 people aged between 50 and 64 are either actively seeking employment, or are inactive but would like to find a job. It isn’t difficult to join the dots.
Recruiters that might previously have been targeting younger staff now have an incentive to broaden the net, while countless others might have been unknowingly putting more mature applicants off because of the language used in their adverts.
Dalziel says that she has noticed an increasing interest from companies in recruiting a more age-diverse workforce. “Ageism is most definitely on many brands and agencies’ agenda,” she says. “More so this year than I have ever seen.”
Yvonne Smyth, group head of equity, diversity and inclusion at multinational recruitment firm Hays, says employers are becoming more proactive, but need to think carefully about the signals they send.
“Not only is language important, but imagery is too,” she says. “So employers need to make sure everything from job adverts and social media postings to their websites use imagery that is inclusive and isn’t solely portraying one age demographic.”
Dr Hannah Swift of the University of Kent has researched age-based stereotypes in job adverts and produced the lists of different positive adjectives associated with those under 30, and those over 50.
If a CV says someone is entrepreneurial, driven and creative, then the chances are that a hirer will think you’re young, she has found. On the other hand, if someone says they are a patient, disciplined and reliable leader, then recruiters tend to think you are more likely to be approaching 60.
“There is something happening that means these words evoke an image and a profile of a younger person more than they do with an older person,” she says. “And there will be people who read those job adverts and think, ‘Well, that’s not me because they don’t want somebody who’s my age.'”
Her colleague, Professor Dominic Abrams, has also been researching age related stereotypes agrees. However, he says it is not only up to companies to make adverts more inclusive, but it is also on older job seekers to see beyond ageist stereotypes.
“Older people can be extremely energetic, just as younger people can be slothful,” he says – arguing that “self-selection” by applicants might be part of the problem.
As part of her research, Dr Swift compiled two job adverts – one using adjectives associated with older candidates, and one using those associated with younger people. She found that while younger applicants seemed happy to throw their hat into the ring for both positions, older people were less likely to consider the “younger” job.
“I actually think the first point of discrimination is that older adults themselves are not applying for jobs that use these kind of younger words,” she says. “There will always be exceptions, but the general pattern of the results we’ve got show that older adults feel like they wouldn’t fit as well in organisations when they use those ‘younger’ kinds of words in their adverts.”
If that is the case then Ms Henderson is clear that they are selling themselves short against their more youthful competitors.
“When does an older person lose all the years of experience that will allow them to be innovative in a job?” she says. “Actually, by the very nature of the years of experience they’ve had, likely in lots of different roles, that makes them more innovative.”
