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2. EXPLAIN WHY INTERVIEWEES DIDN'T GET THE JOB Carol Ethridge was excited about her job interview to be a certified medical coder at an insurance company. But she was surprised that the

company never contacted her afterward to explain why she wasn’t hired, especially since it paid for her travel expenses to the out-of-state interview. “It may have been my age,” suspects

Ethridge, who was 64 at the time. People at the company hadn’t seen her prior to the interview. Plus, the job posting wasn’t removed from the website, so she knew they hadn’t hired anyone.

Follow-up is essential. Contact all interviewees to explain why they were not chosen for the job. Otherwise, qualified candidates may jump to the wrong conclusion and quickly alert others to

their view of your practices through social media. This could damage your reputation and open the door to possible age bias claims. Communicating with applicants up front minimizes the need

to undertake damage-control efforts on the back end. 3. TRAIN INTERVIEWERS ON ASSESSING SKILLS In 2005, Richard Gray was hired to develop a doctoral program for Columbia Southern University

in Orange Beach, Ala. At the time, he was 70 years old. “Age, education and experience are...very desirable for white-collar positions,” says Gray. “Make sure the people doing the

interviewing have some maturity about this…. [Not everyone] will have the experience or knowledge of how to assess an older person’s contributions.” Train interviewers on how to determine if

someone’s skills and experiences can be applied to the job or other open positions, regardless of age. Recruiters who understand the benefits of experience, particularly soft skills, will

likely have more success finding strong candidates. 4. AVOID MAKING ASSUMPTIONS At age 53, William Wages interviewed for a computer technical position at a college. Although the position

paid almost 20 percent less than his previous computer job, he wanted it for its advancement potential. But by the time he returned home, an email was waiting for him. The college had hired

someone else. “They hired two more guys who were in their 20s,” says Wages. “Because of my age, I guess they didn’t think I would drop down to the lower salary. They made [wrong]

assumptions.” Many mature candidates like Wages are interested in opportunity, not just income. In the long run, he says the college shortchanged him and itself. He says older workers are

there for the long haul and typically don’t job-hop for better wages, as younger workers are more inclined to do.