Copyright (c) 2012 Alison Withers
The regular bulletin of the UK's unemployment situation from the Office of National Statistics revealed that there had been a slight reduction in the numbers of people out of work in March 2012.
The details revealed that youth unemployment had gone down slightly and also that an increasing number of mature women were now actively seeking work.
Employers, recruitment agencies and HR specialists know that when they are selecting and interviewing candidates they must be objective and fair, no matter where their sympathies may lie, because any form of discrimination on the grounds of age, among other things, is illegal.
Understandably there is concern that the rate of unemployment among 16-24 year-olds is at 22.2% because of the longer term effects that being out of work can have on their career hopes and there is considerable pressure on recruiters to take on young people.
Faced with two candidates for a position in admin or secretarial work, for example, both with equally suitable qualifications and soft skills, but one of whom is young and the other mature, it can be difficult for the recruiter to decide who will be offered the position.
Young candidates may be perceived to be more flexible, willing to learn and likely to be willing to work for a lower salary in order to get a foot on the career ladder or build on their experience.
On the other hand the mature candidate may have a wider range of experience and arguably better developed people skills. It may also be that they have fewer financial pressures and therefore also be willing to work for a lower salary.
It is not necessarily the case that the older candidate is likely to be more set in their ways and therefore less willing to learn, however. With a longer career history and wider job experience it is possible that they will pick up the essentials of a job more quickly and require less supervision.
There are situations in which the mature candidate may prove to be the better choice, such as where the role involves dealing with a wide variety of people and perhaps likely to have to face sometimes angry clients or customer complaints.
Younger people may be unsure of the best way to deal with situations like these and risk annoying the complainant further while an older person would be more confident and able to defuse the situation.
It may be that the company needs to recruit someone who is willing to stay with them for a while and again the older candidate may be a preferable choice if this applies. Young people are likely to review their career goals and move on more frequently to accomplish them, while the older person may be more settled and prefer security to moving on regularly.
It has been argued that a mature candidate may bring significant advantages to a smaller business because they have a wealth of expertise and knowledge in addition to the position they are actually employed for. If the small business taps into this potential resource it is likely to be rewarded with loyalty, commitment and knowledge it might otherwise have to pay much more for.
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How does a prospective employer choose between two equally qualified candidates, one mature and one young, for a role as a PA or EA? By Ali Withers. http://www.rmsrecruitment.com
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