---
title: "It's My Age, Isn't It?"
url: https://stacklist.com/card/73cc89ba-4b10-4215-a4dd-3ca5ef83c54e
source_url: "https://www.linkedin.com/posts/carlyvivian_its-my-age-isnt-it-she-isnt-getting-activity-7470127590167486464-kQ6L"
stack: https://stacklist.com/c/business/stack/4f03bf2d-2359-4f26-a1c4-c6fbe0789434
summary: "Carly Vivian's LinkedIn post addresses age bias in hiring, describing how a seasoned professional's extensive track record can work against her when automated filters read experience as a timestamp rather than depth. The post advocates bypassing application portals in favor of direct human connections and targeting roles like advisory or fractional work where judgment and depth are valued."
tags: "age-discrimination, job-search, hiring-bias, career-strategy, networking, resume-optimization, fractional-work"
key_entities: "Carly Vivian (person), Dr. Nicole Howard-Rice (person), Amit Karmakar (person), Farhat N. (person), Simone Shabazz (person), age discrimination in hiring (concept), applicant tracking systems (concept), fractional work (concept), LinkedIn (organization)"
classification: "analysis"
content_hash: "sha256:2e1c29aca1ed1f14fe9a1e94c35095e686b63d1d91edc98f80e2693f78f1e8b3"
acp_version: "0.2"
token_counts_approximate: 867
visibility: public
agent_accessible: true
status: "final"
---

# It's My Age, Isn't It?

Carly Vivian 1mo Report this post "It's my age, isn't it." She isn't getting interviews. Not a bad one. Not a cold reception in the room. There's no room at all. She applies. The portal says "thank you for your interest." Then nothing. Over and over, for roles she could do in her sleep. Twenty-four years of experience. Which a machine, and the person who set its filters, can read two ways. As depth. Or as a number. Her accomplishments stopped reading as experience. They started reading as a timestamp. By the time she came to me, she'd done everything the advice tells you to do. Tightened the résumé. Added the wins. Quantified the impact. Every line proves she's serious. And every line also tells them exactly how long she's been doing this. That was the problem. She'd run out of things to fix. I told her we're not going to pretend the bias isn't real. It is. She's not imagining it, and no amount of reframing makes it disappear. But here's the part no one says, and it's the part we can actually do something about. When the bias is about age, your accomplishments stop being neutral. The track record you spent a career building and being proud of is the very thing dating you. So the instinct to add more, prove more, list one more win, quietly works against you. So yes, we fix the materials. Lead with who she is now, pull the early roles back, drop the dates that don't need to be there. That part is table stakes. It is also not what gets her the interview. What moves the needle is refusing to keep feeding herself to the filter. The portal is the one room designed to optimize her out, so we stop relying on it. We get her in front of a human before a system gets her first, through people who already know what she can do. And we aim her at the rooms where depth is the asset and not the liability: advisory, fractional, mandate-driven work where they are buying judgment, not screening for your age. You can't out-credential a filter that's reading for a birth year. But you can stop applying where it gets to decide. She's stopped sending the timestamp. And this week, she's got a couple of interviews she's really excited about. I don't think she should have to do any of this. But I'd rather she get the shot than win the argument. ♻️ Repost for the next woman who needs to read this. View C2PA information 17 8 Comments Like Comment Share Copy LinkedIn Facebook X Dr. Nicole Howard-Rice, WBENC, WBE, SBA, WOSB 1mo Report this comment This is incredibly relevant in today's market. Many experienced professionals aren't lacking qualifications; they're navigating hiring processes that can overlook depth, judgment, and proven results. Your point about relationships resonated with me. Meaningful connections and trusted networks often remain the bridge between capability and opportunity. Thank you for highlighting a reality that many professionals are experiencing. Like Reply 1 Reaction 2 Reactions Amit Karmakar 1mo Report this comment Seeing this reminds me how many brilliant people I've watched get overlooked just for being experienced. Connecting directly has opened more doors than any portal ever did. Like Reply 1 Reaction 2 Reactions Farhat N. 1mo Report this comment Very insightful, I have felt the same struggles. Like Reply 1 Reaction 2 Reactions Simone Shabazz 1mo Report this comment Relevant!👏🏾 Like Reply 1 Reaction 2 Reactions See more comments To view or add a comment, sign in