Episode description

It can feel difficult to break into the tech field, or any industry, when you reach a certain age. You may feel like you’re being overlooked for simply your age. Let’s talk about that!

This week Sarah discusses the topic of ageism in the tech industry and some misconceptions people have about it. You can’t control your age, so instead you should concentrate on things you can change. Leverage the extensive experience you have. Soft skills learned through a lifetime of work are some of the hardest to obtain.

00:38 Am I too old to get hired in tech or user experience or really any field for that matter?

02:20 So how old you are is not within your control. You can't change that, right? what you can change is how you talk about experience

03:37 If you are a little older and worried about how your age might be perceived by a potential employer, et cetera, I want you to know that with more experience comes more skills and more knowledge.

04:39 Resilience, work ethic and other factors that might make someone a good team member, employee, manager, et cetera. These are skills that someone who might be just starting out in their career might not have developed as much as someone like you.

06:37 I thought it would be just interesting to highlight two people from my career coaching program, career strategy lab who were older and did get hired.

07:04 Ashley was in her sixties when she joined Career Strategy Lab.

08:36 David  was in his fifties when he joined Career Strategy Lab

09:58 It costs companies a lot of money to hire employees, and the average cost in the United States is about $4,500 to hire a new employee

11:24 So the three things that I want you to think about concerning ageism in getting hired and in the tech and UX or frankly any industry

🎬 Watch our free UX Job Search Workshop and learn how to stand out in 2025

👉 Join Career Strategy Lab, a UX job search accelerator for UX and Product people.

👋 Say hi and follow our host, Sarah Doody, on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.

💬 Did this episode resonate with you? Tag Sarah on social media and share your biggest takeaway!