You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
That’s not true in dog training… and it’s not true in hiring, either.
Have you ever looked at an older candidate and immediately thought, “There’s no way they can learn our POS system,” or “They probably call it ‘the Facebook’”?”
Unfortunately, when it comes to reviewing candidates for open positions (or for promotions), business owners and hiring managers often make unfair assumptions based on an applicant’s age.
According to Carly Roszkowski, vice president of financial resilience programming at AARP “Many older workers face age discrimination and are often overlooked for jobs they are qualified for, even though they bring expertise, maturity and perspective to the job. This should not be the case. Employers need talent, and it makes great business sense to hire experienced workers.”
But Sheryl, I don’t even look at ages when I review resumes.
While you may be doing everything in your power NOT to discriminate by age, you may still be doing so unconsciously.
A 2020 study titled Is It Harder for Older Workers to Find Jobs, showed that resumes with older-sounding names (like Barbara or Walter) got 36% fewer callbacks than those with younger sounding names (like Brittany or Tyler), despite being otherwise identical.
And it’s not just a problem for older candidates who may be viewed as “not tech savvy” or “not a good cultural fit,” (even though they may be perfectly willing and equipped to carry out responsibilities). Younger candidates are often seen as “inexperienced” or “immature…” despite having the qualifications necessary.
Your employees are the heartbeat of your organization, so when you discriminate (whether consciously or unconsciously) based on age, you could be missing out on your best employee ever.
A Bigger Problem for the Pet Industry
While ageism is rampant across all industries, the situation is even more dire in the pet industry. Many pet businesses are small or family run, or owned by new entrepreneurs without a ton of experience or support in HR. When this is the case, hiring decisions are often informal and based on gut feelings.
When it comes to high-end grooming or boutique retail operations, appearance and “vibe” may be confused with an ability to do the job. If you don’t feel like an older candidate would be a “good fit for clients,” it’s easy to blame culture fit rather than call it what it is… age bias. But think about this, a 60-year-old master groomer may not know her Instagram Stories from her Reels, but she hasn’t had a bite incident in 15 years because she knows how to calm an anxious dog.
In the world of veterinary medicine, younger veterinarians or techs with newer ideas on treatment can clash with more established staff and bias can flow in both directions.
Unfortunately, these challenges can really cost your business. The labor pool is already small. When you exclude candidates under and over a specific age range, the pool becomes more of a labor pond.
When older employees are pushed out of their roles, businesses will lose relationships with customers, and you’ll experience institutional knowledge loss… wisdom and experience will dart right out the door. This can wreak havoc on customer retention and your reputation.
How to Hire the Best Possible Employees
There are several steps you can take to ensure you hire the right person for the job, rather than get lost in the weeds of ageism.
- Be careful how you word your job postings. Avoid using phrases like “digital native,” “hustle culture,” or “passionate about modern grooming trends,” which imply older applicants aren’t capable or won’t fit the culture.
- Widen where you post job openings. If you only post on Instagram or Indeed, you may limit your applicant pool before you’ve received a single resume. Include local veterinary and grooming associations, AARP’s job board, etc.
- Strip names and graduation dates from resume screening so as not to focus on their potential age.
- Avoid asking “where do you see yourself in 10 years” during interviews. This penalizes older candidates who may not plan to be working that much longer (but could still do a fabulous job for you.
- Focus on skills rather than years of experience. A younger candidate just joining the workforce may have no official “work experience,” however, they may have grown up taking care of animals, pet-sitting or baby-sitting, or volunteering their time. If you count them out because they haven’t gotten a paycheck for their experience, you could lose out on a truly wonderful employee.
“Focusing on skills changes the question from ‘How long have you been doing this? To “Can you really do the work this role requires, and are you prepared to keep growing?”’ says Dara Forleo, Founder of The Whole Pet Grooming Academy. “Years of industry experience do not always equal readiness for today’s workplace. Someone can have years of experience and still need support with digital systems, written communication, or current standards. Someone newer may need more practical repetition but may be highly organized, coachable, and ready to learn.”
- Rather than hiring based solely on a resume and an interview, create (paid) “working interviews” where candidates get to showcase their grooming, veterinary, or customer service skills.
- Trust your gut… but also question it. “Pay attention to your first impressions. Those gut reactions can be useful, but they can also be influenced by unconscious bias,’ says Raysa Felix, Founder & CEO of HealthySmiles Pet Dental. “If you find yourself thinking, “They seem too young,” or “They might be too set in their ways,” challenge yourself to find actual evidence before making a decision.”
Something to Chew On
Think about your last hire… did age factor in? You don’t need a big, fancy HR department to ensure that your hiring practices yield the best possible employees. All you need is an open mind and a willingness to identify (and then address) your own biases.
“Talent doesn’t arrive with an expiration date,” says Felix. “Great employees come in all ages, and the smartest thing we can do is judge them by their contribution, not their birth certificate.”
Sheryl Green is a speaker, author and workplace culture consultant who helps pet industry leaders sniff out healthier boundaries, curb burnout, and keep their best people from bolting out the door. She’s the author of You Had Me at No and also leads workshops that help teams work like a well-trained pack.
