People who only studied all their lives

[Admiral Yi]

How difficult is it to fire someone in Portugal?

[Monoriu]

Now, the (mostly) young applicants have been on trial for a month now, and it's time to decide who will stay longer. I haven't accompanied the procedure myself (I will only make the approvals), but the guy who did follow them wrote on his review of her, and I quote: "(...) she is dedicated, nice and enthusiastic. But she is 34 years old."

Is it wise to leave written evidence that you guys are discriminating her based on her age?

[MadImmortalMan]

I'm going to go against the grain on this one. I am immediately suspicious of someone who does nothing but study until they're 35 years old. It's like a convict who doesn't know how to cope on the outside so he keeps committing crimes to go back in jail where he's in his comfort zone. Does she have any real-world experience at all? Has she had part-time work over all these years at least?

[garbon]

I'm going to go against the grain on this one. I am immediately suspicious of someone who does nothing but study until they're 35 years old. It's like a convict who doesn't know how to cope on the outside so he keeps committing crimes to go back in jail where he's in his comfort zone. Does she have any real-world experience at all? Has she had part-time work over all these years at least?

Isn't she in an entry level position?

[DGuller]

I'm going to go against the grain on this one. I am immediately suspicious of someone who does nothing but study until they're 35 years old. It's like a convict who doesn't know how to cope on the outside so he keeps committing crimes to go back in jail where he's in his comfort zone. Does she have any real-world experience at all? Has she had part-time work over all these years at least?

I agree with you, but it's not like she's completely fresh.  People at the company are already familiar with her capabilities at work, and they seem happy with them.  It's not like you're taking a chance on someone who could be incapable of working in the real world by now.

[Monoriu]

I don't think it should be a matter of whether she is good enough.  It should be whether she is among the better ones in the group of interns. 

[DGuller]

I don't think it should be a matter of whether she is good enough.  It should be whether she is among the better ones in the group of interns.

Of course, but since the age is the sticking point, my assumption was that performance-wise she is one of the better ones.

[Savonarola]

I have a cousin who finished her PhD in psychology at 32 and then got her first "Real" job as a counselor at Duke University.  She hated it because all the people she dealt with had problems.

I would urge caution over hiring anyone with so much academic experience and so little industry experience. 

[HVC]

a counselor at Duke University.  She hated it because all the people she dealt with had problems.

what did she think the job was going to be about

[Tamas]

If she has proven to be good at that entry level position and she seems to be content with it, then you should hire her, at least your 20-something supervisors would get some apparently needed experience like Marty said (altough I dont think you need to treat your underlings as shit by default, that has to be some Polish thing).

The couple of people older than me whom I supervised in the past seemingly had no problem with that situation and in fact were by far the easiest to handle.

[Martinus]

If she has proven to be good at that entry level position and she seems to be content with it, then you should hire her, at least your 20-something supervisors would get some apparently needed experience like Marty said (altough I dont think you need to treat your underlings as shit by default, that has to be some Polish thing).

No, it's a homo drama queen thing.

[CountDeMoney]

Think of it this way:  since she's entering the workforce of the company at a later age than many of her peers, she'll save the company money in the long run by not working as long as someone younger.

You Chinky Portuguese goof.

[I Killed Kenny]

what's your company anyway?

[The Larch]

There are all kind of reasons for not entering the workforce until a relatively later age, and IMO it's totally acceptable to query such a person accordingly.

There are those that have kept on studying because they prefered the sheltered life of the student, those that simply didn't know what to do with their careers and just kept on studying, those that are hell bent on overqualification, those that aimed at an academic career and dropped out for one reason or the other, etc. It doesn't have to translate necessarily into not being able to cope with a work, although it can warrant a certain level of caution.

[Iormlund]

I don't understand how this can be so new to you guys in Portugal. Here at the other side of the peninsula it is fairly common to have older underlings. Most chief or project engineers are in their late 20s or early 30s, the electricians, plumbers and such under them being usually significantly older.

I know several people that haven't had a job till their late 20s or 30s. Most had the civil service exams as their objective. One is now a diplomat, a couple are tax inspectors, another one is a judge ... and those who didn't pass the exams now face life as a 30 something without experience.