Do Job Interviews Get Easier As Workers Get Older?

The saying goes, “Love, like wine, gets better with age,” but does the adage extend to job interviews too?

For the answer, we turned to Glassdoor’s Chief Economist, Dr. Andrew Chamberlain. In a new study of a large sample of more than 250,000 interview reviews on Glassdoor, Dr. Chamberlain and his team looked at the factors that make job interviews difficult.

In addition to multi-step evaluations making interviews harder for candidates, age is a reported factor that intensifies the interview process.

“We found that older workers reported significantly more difficult job interviews than younger workers on Glassdoor, even after controlling for job title, education and industry,” says Dr. Chamberlain. “On average, moving up one age group — for example, moving from age 25-34 to 35-44 — is associated with approximately 1.3 percent more difficult job interviews, a small but significant increase.”

But aren’t older worker’s more experienced? Doesn’t their industry insight give them a leg up?

Yes, however, the challenges may not be rooted in the ability to answer questions or provide anecdotes. Instead, research reveals that the difficulty lies in the type of interview screens. “Perhaps unsurprisingly, group panel interviews mattered most for interview difficulty,” says Dr. Chamberlain. “Adding a group panel interview raises the difficulty rating of interviews by about 13 percent. They are followed by phone interviews (+9 percent), skills tests (+8 percent) and candidate presentations (+7 percent).

While adding extra hoops for candidates raises the perceived difficulty of job interviews, it may also disuade older candidates from pursuing new jobs. Afterall, the tech and consulting industries are famous for unbelievably difficult interviews filled with a slew of oddball questions and rounds of meetings as well as skills tests. Glassdoor’s research also showed that hospitals and non-profits have difficult interview processes. What’s a seasoned candidate to do?

Prepare. Prepare. Prepare.

Here are our go-to resources and articles to preparing for difficult interviews:

• 27 Jobs with the Toughest Interview Questions
• The 45 Questions You Should Ask In Every Job Interview
• How to Prepare For The “Tell Me About Yourself” Interview Question
• How To Prepare For A Job Interview
• How to Answer “What Is Your Greatest Weakness?”

Plus, there are companies who are currently looking for and hiring experienced talent. From Kimberly-Clark to General Mills, be sure to check out companies who want and need your particular brand of talent. Remember, no matter how challenging the interview questions or the hiring manager may be, the cream rises to the top.

Source: Glassdoor