Age Discrimination In Hiring

Since I've been unemployed, I've been applying for jobs everywhere. Mostly I would like to work for the state, so I've concentrated my efforts in that regard. However, given the states financial situation in this economy, I realized it would be prudent to not put all of my eggs in one basket and have applied for other jobs as well.

With all my experience in restaurants and food service, I've always thought my fall back plan would be to take another restaurant job and work until things picked up. Then maybe I'd get some calls from the state. However, I recently applied for a crew member job with a new fast food restaurant opening in Jefferson City, MO and was faced with something I hadn't really considered until now. When I went for my interview, the interviewers had scheduled 2 of us at the same time. Myself and a young boy who looked as though he was just old enough to drive. They took him in first and about 5 minutes later, called me in for the interview. They asked some questions about myself and my work experience, then asked why I'd like to work there. Things seemed to be going well, then one of the interviewers asked how I'd feel about having someone younger than myself as a manager. I explained that this was not a problem for me, that I've been in that situation before and it's worked out very well. So they asked me to step out for a minute and they would call me back in. At first I'm thinking this is a good sign. However, no sooner had I stepped out of the room and took a seat, they called me back in and said, "What we're going to do right now, we have your application, which we'll hold on to and we'll give you a call." O.K., so I thanked them for their time and consideration and left.

On my way home, it occurred to me that even though they never asked my age, their question about me working under someone younger than me was directed at my being older than most of the applicants. Then too, the young boy who'd gone in before me was still being interviewed when I left. So their brush off was most likely related to my age, even though at 49 I'm not really old by any means. Now I know what it feels like to be discriminated against because of my age and I'm only going to be getting older. What the two young women who were doing the hiring failed to consider is that I have excellent work references, I usually work harder than anyone else, all of my extended education has been in restaurant management and food preparation and I NEVER miss work. When I was managing at any of my previous jobs, that was what I looked at, not whether the applicant was old or young. Common sense should tell you to hire the most experienced and hardest working people who apply, not just the youngest people who apply.

At any rate, I think they've lost more than I have in the deal. I didn't get the job, but I know what kind of worker I am and I know it will be very difficult for them to find anyone better who is willing to work there. So they've missed out and they'll most likely lose several customers, since I'll be sure to let my friends and family know how I was treated by their managers. Very bad for a new business, especially when you consider that I and most of my friends eat out a great deal of the time. We won't be spending our money there.