Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash
As an external job candidate, you will not have access to internal policies, processes and demographics. Nor will you be familiar with the workplace culture. But there are still plenty of ways to get the inside scoop.
Here are seven ways to dig deeper to know for sure.
1) The first place to start is the company’s website. It’s a treasure trove of information and critical in your search. A few clicks should make one thing very obvious–whether or not the company is age inclusive.
Company imaging often shows other dimensions of diversity, but everyone is under age 30. That’s sloppy work on behalf of the company’s brand-building because it shows they are grabbing stock imagery and ticking all the boxes they think are important for visible diversity: race and gender.
It also means that nobody is thinking about age. Chances are, the internal work culture is also oblivious to the relevance of age inclusion. That’s not a good sign.
2) Visit the career page and look for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) information. Do they reference age equity as part of their scope? When age is incorporated into DEI strategy, company leaders understand how age-related assumptions, biases, myths and stereotypes interfere with creating a truly diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace.
3) Look at the languaging of a job description. Words conveying preference—for example, recent graduate, young and energetic, are words the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) suggests may indicate systemic age discrimination. Those words might imply that older applicants are not desired, but they may also suggest that younger employees will be required to work longer hours with minimum time off.
Read the full report here