A Different Drum: The problem with beyond deadbeat references

Looking for work later in life can be challenging. That’s a topic I had frequently read about in career manuals and AARP publications. I had also witnessed people I knew grappling with the issue of being an older worker seeking employment. Still, I didn’t think much about it back when the issue was decades away. But now that it’s come to rest on my doorstep, I’ve had no choice except to stare into the eyes of the later life work challenge.

Is there truth to the idea age can be a barrier to employment? Yes, according to Mindy Feldbaum, vice president of workforce development programs for the AARP Foundation. The primary barriers for older people looking to get hired are discrimination and misperceptions among employers and co-workers.

Additionally, I’ve heard that all things being equal between two job candidates, employers will avoid hiring the older worker because they would have to pay the person a higher wage and the employee would cost them more hidden expenses over time.

In contrast, an informational article at recruiter.com reports a lot of what’s floating around regarding the viability and cost of older workers is more myth than fact. In reality, they may not need to work full-time or require company benefits, including health care; they require less training, are absent less often and are more punctual than their younger workplace counterparts; and their experience has helped them develop better customer service skills and a higher level of commitment to quality.

That information makes good bullet points for use during job interviews. Quite different than trying to prove at the beginning of my career that I was dependable, willing to gain entry-level job experience and didn’t view the position as a mere stepping stone.

There are also the issues of employment history and references. The other day I compared notes with a friend who, like me, had found himself changing jobs later in his career and life. He shared he’d run into some of the same problems I have experienced: former workplaces that have closed and former bosses who have died.

Over the years, I’ve kept company brochures, letters of hire, letters of reference, etc. to show interviewers more about places where I have worked. I’ve also kept some of my past job descriptions to be able to show commonalities between those jobs and the one(s) for which I am applying. Where possible, I have work samples to show what I have created. And then there are dead references.

Someone posed the following question on quora.com, “If a reference on your resume passes, can one keep them on and mention ‘The late … ?’”

A surprisingly respectful response came from a bot (versus the humanly sarcastic response, “are you stupid or what?!”): “It’s generally not recommended to include references to deceased individuals on your resume. Instead, you can mention their professional impact on you in a cover letter or during an interview. If a reference on your resume passes away, it’s best to remove their contact information and update your references with living individuals who can speak to your qualifications.”

Human resources director Anthony Edwards also weighed in on the issues, allowing gallows humor to creep into his reply: “No, the whole point of a referee (meaning “reference”) is to allow a potential new employer to verify the claims and performance listed on your resume. If the referees cannot be contacted (without an Ouija board) then there is no benefit to listing them. Even if a deceased person wrote a reference prior to their demise, this cannot be verified by them as authentic so again has little to no benefit.”

I disagree with the last of the H.R. director’s response. While no potential employer wants to get caught up in a Weekend-at -Bernie’s-style reference situation, I do believe it’s permissible to show a reference letter or a job evaluation previously written by an employment supervisor who’s no longer living. However, such documents should be but one of many testimonies to one’s job-worthiness, not your only employment credentials.

That’s a lot to unpack, so I’m certainly glad the uncertainty of the post-COVID world has made it an employee’s job market, regardless of one’s age.

— Kristy Smith’s Different Drum humor columns are archived at her blog: diffdrum.wordpress.com.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: A Different Drum: The problem with beyond deadbeat references