Tear up your old CV! Skills replace experience as job-hunting rules are rewritten

Job hunters are being urged to ditch their date of birth on CVs and application forms. The Employers Forum on Age (EFA) has designed a new application form so job seekers will be no longer be judged on their date of birth but on their skills and abilities.

With research revealing that 71% of people have experienced age discrimination at work and 68% believing it is more common than other workplace discrimination , the EFA hopes the application form will help eliminate age discrimination and force employers to get to grips with forthcoming age discrimination legislation before itís too late. The age-neutral application form, designed with recruiter Bartlett Scott Edgar, means employers will have to focus on the skills someone can bring to a particular job rather than their age.

The recruitment industry in particular has a key role in challenging age discrimination and ensuring that policies, practices and adverts are up to scratch.

Ian Wolter, Director of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and chair of the diversity committee at the REC, says: The recruitment industry is in a unique position in its reach across employers in all sectors of the UK. Defeating age discrimination presents our industry with a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate that we can be a force for positive change within the UK.î

Joan Hemmingway, 57, is Group Radio Co-ordinator at KM Radio. She welcomes the new form. I experienced age discrimination when looking for work a few years ago. Companies just didnít seem interested in hiring someone older, although my current employer likes the fact I bring maturity and experience to the role. Taking age out of recruitment is definitely a good thing - itís time companies focused on what someone can bring to a job rather than how old they are.

Sam Mercer, director of the Employers Forum on Age, adds:

ìAge discrimination is as rampant as sex and race discrimination yet people often donít often realise they are being ageist. Why does a PA need to be 25-30 years old or an accountant need to have a minimum of five yearsí experience?

ìYour age is often one of the first questions youíre asked when applying for a job. This is wrong and will soon be against the law. Employers should be making decisions based on skills rather than how young or old someone is. Our new model will help to break this cultural barrier, offering job hunters more opportunities and employers more people to choose from in a tight employment market.î

With age discrimination legislation just around the corner the EFA has produced a recruitment guide, ëAvoiding the Age Trapí, which explores the ageist stereotypes that exist at work and what organisations should be doing to start preparing for the legislation. Failure to comply will result in an explosion of industrial tribunals.

To receive a copy of ëAvoiding the Age Trapí and to view the age-neutral application form, please visit www.efa.org.uk/ or ring the EFA on 020 7981 0341.