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I am an older worker. Anyway, I worked for this retail company 6 years ago. I was even promoted in that company. I left on good terms. Since then I have had other retail experience and again was promoted in my current position. So yesterday I interviewed with former company. I told interviewer about my promotions, experience , etc. I feel I was dressed professionally (unlike my inteviewer who appeared rather sloppy), answered questions appropriately. I was told I would get an answer in a couple of days when they work out the details of current hiring along with holiday hiring. Oh, by the way I was extremely flexible with my time available. Today I got an e-mail message that "my skills and qualifications do not match what they are looking for" How can that be, when I worked for that company and did well? Should I call her back and ask why wasnlt I chosen or ask to speak to HR manager? I am really shocked. This is not my first rejection either with all the retail experience I have. I need to know why I am not getting hired. Is it because I am an older worker?
Absolutely, and you should! But you certainly won't hear the truth if it is because of your age.
Yep. My guess is you won't get an honest answer. Probably the same stock answer you got in the email. And that may very well be company policy to avoid any kind of lawsuit.
As others have said.. you can ask. I won't go as far to say you should since I think a completely blunt answer is probably futile.
They didn't choose you for some reason. It could have been a plethora of things. It could have been because you are older, it could have been they want a low level retail employee and not someone who has been through promotions, it could have been they want less experience, it could be you no longer fit the culture there, etc etc etc etc.
I am an older worker. Anyway, I worked for this retail company 6 years ago. I was even promoted in that company. I left on good terms. Since then I have had other retail experience and again was promoted in my current position. So yesterday I interviewed with former company. I told interviewer about my promotions, experience , etc. I feel I was dressed professionally (unlike my inteviewer who appeared rather sloppy), answered questions appropriately. I was told I would get an answer in a couple of days when they work out the details of current hiring along with holiday hiring. Oh, by the way I was extremely flexible with my time available. Today I got an e-mail message that "my skills and qualifications do not match what they are looking for" How can that be, when I worked for that company and did well? Should I call her back and ask why wasnlt I chosen or ask to speak to HR manager? I am really shocked. This is not my first rejection either with all the retail experience I have. I need to know why I am not getting hired. Is it because I am an older worker?
While it may be something less "legitimate", it also may simply be that they decided to go with another candidate who they felt was a better fit. Sometimes, that's just they way it goes. You did nothing wrong - but someone else was just better. The response can also be a canned response which can be misleading as to the actual reason.
Having said that - there's nothing preventing you from asking. However, my suggestion is that whatever reason they give you, just say 'thank you' and move on - no matter how hokey or untruthful the answer may sound to you. This way, you don't risk burning any potential bridges for future opportunities with this firm or others in the same industry.
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Preface the question with your desire to improve your chances on future interviews and they will be more likely to respond. Still, as the others have said if the reason is not job-related they are not going to say it. As good as you may have been for that position there could have still been someone better, so that's a standard answer to avoid problems. You worked there 6 years ago, a lot can change in that time, and also, when someone has previously left a company before they may be worried that you would leave again as soon as something better comes along.
There's really no reason--or benefit--to assuming there's some hidden story behind this. Just because you worked for the company before and your work was appreciated, does not mean they need your work now. Company's needs change. Experience isn't the only thing employers look for. There's certainly no reason to suspect age discrimination. Quite frankly, the response you receive is almost certainly a canned answer that they give to everyone. It could mean they found someone cheaper. It could mean they didn't hire at all. It could mean they found someone with a little bit more experience than you.
And getting a few rejections isn't an indicator of age discrimination either. Most people get quite a few, particularly in this economy. It's simply that there are always more people applying than there are that get hired. That means the vast majority are going to get a rejection letter.
As I've said in other posts, age is almost never a factor unless you make it one. If you go to interviews and lay in heavy about how much experience you have, that can be extremely irritating to the interviewer. And they are going to be concerned about your ability to be trained and then get along with your coworkers, if you are constantly harping about how much more experience you have than them. Your condescending opinion about the interviewer's dress was probably apparent to them as well. That's not an attitude that is going to get you hired, and it has nothing to do with your age. If you were twenty and came in with that attitude, you wouldn't get hired either.
As others have said.. you can ask. I won't go as far to say you should since I think a completely blunt answer is probably futile.
They didn't choose you for some reason. It could have been a plethora of things. It could have been because you are older, it could have been they want a low level retail employee and not someone who has been through promotions, it could have been they want less experience, it could be you no longer fit the culture there, etc etc etc etc.
Move on to the next opportunity.
You hit it right on the nail. They didn't choose you due to biasness. The interviewer has the upper hand. If they don't like your race, gender, age, sexual preference, appearance, etc then they will not choose you. You can have all the experience in the world but you still need to get past the gatekeepers. Interviewing is like the dating process. You have to approach a lot until someone accepts your advances. Of course, you might get lucky on your first try but usually you will need to have a lot of experience (game/swag in the dating world) when it comes to interviewing, reading people, etc.
I would move on. Do you look old? I am 26 but i look very young (17-21) which can sometimes create a problem when i interview.
Good luck!
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