People who only studied all their lives

[Martim Silva]

With the Summer, the time for recruiting interns is here, and this year I have a new case:

[Small explanatory note: in Portugal, unless you're highborn - at which time you'll start your career close to the top - you will start your career in the lower echelons of a company and must muscle your way up, regardless of your education level]

One of the applicants is a 34-year-old woman, who has simply zero professional experience. She has two degrees, a postgraduation, a Masters' degree and some extra stuff. Basically, the only thing she has done so far in life is study, nothing else. And she isn't married, which means she probably lives with relatives.

Usually these kinds of people stay in Academia for life, but for some reason she has applied to join us. I'm quite amazed, since she will start work doing basic data collection and earning a crap wage [actually, we call it a 'scholarship', so that we don't have to pay taxes for what we pay our interns].

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."

I am interpreting this as a plea NOT to hire her. Which I can understand, because people here tend to be intimidated by age, and she will go to such a junior area that her supervisor is only 26 years old.

In fact, her immediate three hierarchical superiors will all be younger than she is. I would be the only one older.

In part because I am older than she is, I feel that I can look at her in a different light. She doesn't seem bad to me, but there is a general fear she will 'crack' under pressure or that she may not take orders from younger (but more experienced) people.

Needless to say, I have to think of the integrity of the company and avoid a situation where needless tensions may arise. I am, therefore, inclined to let her go. Yet...

It would be a bit improper for me to just call and meet her directly, but I may ask one of her hypothetical superiors to have a meeting to see what are her motives to be with us (I never spoke to her personally besides the typical 'welcome to the company' stuff on the first day) and see if she could be of use or if she is just trying something to keep busy/make money before going to study more.

What are your thoughts on the situation? I will not lie and say I might be very influenced by them, but I'm actually interested in hearing every possible opinion.

[Grey Fox]

Freaking porkchops, you guys wanna be Chinese or what?

Hire her.

[CountDeMoney]

No shit.  Give the woman a job.

[jimmy olsen]

In part because I am older than she is, I feel that I can look at her in a different light. She doesn't seem bad to me, but there is a general fear she will 'crack' under pressure or that she may not take orders from younger (but more experienced) people.

Why would she crack? Getting that far in academia takes a lot of work.

I think the younger bosses should grow up, stop whining and learn to deal with people older than themselves in subordinate positions.

[Barrister]

You used to get this attitude in big law firms.  Most people would get hired right at age 25 or so (after doing a 4 year bachellors, and a 3 year LLB/JD), so anyone who went to law school later in life was viewed oddly.  And a lot of the same criticisms were made - that they can't handle the long hours, that they won't be able to take directions from supervisors that are actually younger than they are.

Except it turns out that in almost every case that extra age and experience made them better lawyers.

If she's good, hire her regardless of age.

[Josquius]

How on Earth do people do this?
Even doing a masters I feel a bit like I'm just putting off life. To do a second degree and all that?

I have heard though in Germany (or so Germans tell me) the government showers you with study-support money until you're 30 or so so people do tend to milk this for all its worth and very rarely look for work pre-25.
Similar in Portugal?


Isn't agism against the law these days? I'm sure I've heard mutterings about people wanting it to be at least. Just ignore that. Her supervisor can take it badly or he can take it as proof of his awesomeness that he has a underling older than him.

[Faeelin]

So in other words you view an older qualified employee as a bigger problem than supervisors who can't handle managing somebody older than them?

[CountDeMoney]

So in other words you view an older qualified employee as a bigger problem than supervisors who can't handle managing somebody older than them?

Yeah, pretty much.

[Jacob]

Yeah, it seems to me that the younger people who complain about the age are feeling threatened.  Perhaps that's enough of a reason not to hire her, but the issue lies with the insecure people already at your company rather than her.

[Martinus]

From my experience, having your supervisors deal with older underlings can actually have a beneficial effect on their development as supervisors, because it makes it much harder to treat an older underling like shit. I know it worked (at least partially) for me and the fact that my secretary is significantly older (about 10 years or so).

Plus older people usually make less stupid mistakes.

[Darth Wagtaros]

So in other words you view an older qualified employee as a bigger problem than supervisors who can't handle managing somebody older than them?

I may have some prejudice against someone who gets to their mid 30s without having worked a full time job.  But by the sound of it the woman sounds like she is good at what she does and is genuinely interested in it.  A supervisor who can't handle having her on the team is probably the one who should be let go.

[CountDeMoney]

I may have some prejudice against someone who gets to their mid 30s without having worked a full time job.

And I have some prejudice against snotnosed 21 year old college grads that haven't accomplished dick in their lives other than binge drinking and date raping in college, so there ya go.

[Jacob]

And I have some prejudice against snotnosed 21 year old college grads that haven't accomplished dick in their lives other than binge drinking and date raping in college, so there ya go.

What sort of prejudice? 

[garbon]

And I have some prejudice against snotnosed 21 year old college grads that haven't accomplished dick in their lives other than binge drinking and date raping in college, so there ya go.

Phew. You weren't prejudiced against me then.

[CountDeMoney]

And I have some prejudice against snotnosed 21 year old college grads that haven't accomplished dick in their lives other than binge drinking and date raping in college, so there ya go.

What sort of prejudice? 

The absolute worse kind.