Is it just me or does the word "Trainee" make anybody else think the recruiter is looking for a youngster? What would you consider the cut-off age is for a Trainee if this were the case? I always hold back from applying for these jobs, not because they tend to be low wage, but because at 38 years of age i feel i would be too old to consider for a trainee role. I understand todays politics when hiring and employers can't be seen to be being age discriminative (is that a word?) Just wondered what your thoughts and opinions were.
If you're 38 then you have almost 30 working years left so I wouldn't consider you too old. If you were a couple of years off retirement then I would think you a bit too old for a trainee position, but you're not there yet!
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On the grounds that it's when you stop working then I think that the bulk of us are well past being able to afford that luxury.
I think that you're right to a certain extent Neil. Employers are not allowed to discriminate based on age so for candidate in late teens / early twenties required read Trainee.
I've actually had a similar debate in relation to trainee's in other business area's where employers look at people just out of Uni as having a good 40+ years of devotion to the company in them but I've found that the older people are when they take a role the more likely they are to stick with the company.
I know that one Scottish bank that I worked with in London were quite happy going down that path and back in 2006 / 7 they were hiring people in their 50's on the assumption that they would get 10 to 15 years of productive service (basically until retirement with no career breaks or term time contracts to worry about) where someone in their twenties / thirties had a role expectancy of around eight years before moving on and often they would need to take a year or so out of that time.
Before anyone jumps on the above. I'm just stating facts and reasons, not saying whether I agree or disagree with the mentality behind the choices.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Fair point about retirement age... Just going with when you can pick up your free bus pass!
I think you're right about loyalty... A lot of companies don't reward employees for staying with them so employees are always looking for the best opportunities elsewhere. I also read (once upon a time and I don't remember where) that parents show more loyalty to a company than those without kids because stability at work provides stability at home and going from one job to another regularly doesn't provide.
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Please correct me if I'm wrong... I am only human sucking up knowledge... Sometimes bits leak out!
Thats a good story Shaun. I personally am in no position to offer anyone employment but have been in the past. In my opinion and from what i have discovered you do get a better deal employing slightly older people. Not so much arsing around in the workplace too lol. Mind you i have had 2 careers advisors tell me that the more jobs you have on your C.V. the more ambitious you seem. This just says to me that a person may not be with you very long and so training may be costly. The shoe is on the other foot now and i can only hope i find a like-minded employer for myself. The only employer that ticks all the boxes right now seems to be me but i'm not working for me as i have heard bad things lol.
yeah, I wouldn't work for that Neil character either. Apparently not a very good payer and drives you way too hard.
As for a the more employers the better... Not sure that's true. My CV reads like a who's who of the FTSE 100 and when employers look at the CV they see someone jumping from job to job.
The explanation is in the CV but employers and recruiters only quickly scan them before binning them. Also agents often reformat the CVs and they don't seem to be able to get their head around working on a project basis or working with more than one client at the same time so rather than being my company with lists of clients / projects it looks like a long list of permanent jobs of 3 to 24 month durations.
Anyway, getting off track. Employers don't like too see too many short employments in the same way that they really don't like seeing unexplained career gaps.... And maybe even drop the word unexplained.
I've also encountered issues with employers taking on those who have worked for themselves as it is assumed that once you've gone down that path you will never really be happy going back to employed work again so it's assumed that to take such is just a temporary fix to a short term issue.
Got to go, but I'll come back to this conversation later.
All the best,
Shaun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Well i have just applied for a Trainee position. It states that salary is dependant upon experience, an experienced trainee? now i am baffled. I have also been rejected by a recruitment agency that was interested in me for a local position, untill they found out that i am in full time employment which is what i have written on my CV if they were to read the good bits. The job offered is a temp to perm position and the recuitment agency wouldn't put me through because of the possibility of it turning out temp. It's like swimming through mud. Sigh..............
Neil
-- Edited by Spamkebab on Saturday 24th of September 2011 12:37:04 PM
Think the Junior makes it obvious that the employer is looking for someone young, maybe even the dreaded school leaver!!!!
One of my clients got a 17 year old apprentice last year - he's still with them but is next to useless. Always late and/or sick (he is however incredibly honest, never tells big tales of why just the truth eg sorry I'm late hungover and missed the train etc). He also still has the habits of the classroom in that he doesn't listen and wears a coat!
Give me an older employee any day - mindst you I probably say that cos I am.
Actually... You mention dreaded school leaver but with the current situation with universities becoming too expecnsive to go to, businesses have started listening to what I've been telling them all along and they've started looking at talented school leavers and dumping the idea of paying top dollar for graduates (There was an article on this in this months PQ magazine).
Not an ideal scenario there for anyone whose invested a fortune in getting a degree but for anyone leaving school with top results in real subjects (Maths, Enlglish, History, Geography, the sciences and at least one language... Basically the English Baccalaureate) then the world is suddenly becoming your Oyster.
So, if you know of anyone who didn't get the Uni position that they wanted but that doesn't reflect their actual exam results then get them to get their applications into the banks and management consultancies and they may be regarded in a better light for training positions than they have previously.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
