When employers make job postings for an open position, they will request the qualities that they’re looking for. Maybe they want someone to have a bachelor’s degree, for instance, or a certain number of years of experience in the industry. For some technical positions, they may list requirements like being familiar with certain types of software.
One thing that some employers will note is that they’re looking to hire recent college graduates who would like to join their team. Why can this be a problem when it seems like such an innocent phrase?
It can be interpreted as age discrimination
Employers may use this phrase because they’re looking for someone who has the most updated knowledge regarding technology or recent changes in the industry. But the problem with it is that the majority of recent college graduates are people who are in their 20s. Workers who are older may believe that they won’t be considered for the job. They may even feel that they’re being told not to apply. But this type of discrimination – against workers who are 40 and older – is illegal.
This isn’t to say that there are no college graduates in this age range. Someone could certainly attend college in their 40s and they may be a recent graduate at 45. But it’s uncommon, so a worker who has 20 years of experience – but who also graduated from college two decades ago – may feel that they are not being given a fair chance. Even if they do apply for the job, if they don’t get an interview or a callback, they may believe that it’s because of their age.
Discrimination on the basis of age is illegal, just like discriminating over religion, gender, race and much more. Those who believe they have faced such discrimination need to know about their legal options.