RetirementJobs: Site Aims to Fight Age Discrimination

Are you convinced that your job search is being hampered by your age? Age discrimination is illegal, but it’s also incredibly hard to prove when you’re seeking work. And many people are convinced that it diminishes your chance of securing a new job after the relatively young age of 45.

If you suspect that’s why your job search is fruitless, you might want to check out RetirementJobs. But don’t expect it to be a panacea capable of landing your dream job.

What is RetirementJobs?

RetirementJobs is a special purpose job board that screens companies based on how they treat older workers. The site posts jobs from employers that favor applicants over the age of 50.

How it works

For job-seekers, it works like any other job board. You plug in what you are looking for and where and the site will cull and present a list of potentially appropriate positions.

All the costs are paid by employers, who advertise their job listings for $199 a month. Employers can also pay to get “certified” as an age-friendly employer. The certification process takes 2-3 weeks and costs $449.

RetirementJobs review

Launched more than 20 years ago, RetirementJobs aims to connect workers over the age of 50 with employers who embrace this older workforce. And, given that many older workers run into age-discrimination in hiring and promotion, the idea has merit.

Anyone who lists open positions here is open to hiring older workers. And, because employers pay monthly to advertise, all the listings should all be current. (Comparatively, many other job boards simply scrape listings from other sites, so some of the jobs have long been filled.)

Also attractive: Job seekers don’t pay anything to search RetirementJobs. All of the costs are borne by employers.

And, at least in theory, you can search for jobs by geography, job title, or industry.

The bad

The problem? While testing the site, we found job searches often delivered bizarre results. And this happened no matter how we searched the site.

Specifically, we started our testing by using the search bar to plug in a job title and a city.

But the combination of “engineering” and “New York City” delivered job listings for student research interns and a “patient support associate.” Only a tiny fraction of the 171 positions delivered by that search had the term “engineer” anywhere in the title.

Likewise, when we searched for “marketing manager” positions in Chicago, we got job postings for a quality control inspector at an Illinois Safeway; and one seeking an entry-level solar sales person.

When we searched for “driver” in Los Angeles, we did get one listing for a medical transportation driver. Inexplicably, however, the next job listings were for a human resources manager, a mental health account specialist, and an AT&T Tech Support manager.

Just for giggles, I also searched for an “investment manager” in Omaha, Nebraska (given Warren Buffett’s retirement). There was only one job listing. It was for a “retail merchandising specialist” in nearby Iowa.

Topic search

Notably, the site specifically lists about a dozen job categories, such as “accounting” and “insurance.” Se we tried searching that way too. Click on “accounting/tax” and it will ask you to say what state and city you’re in. Honolulu? No jobs listed. Chicago? Same. New York? Also no jobs.

A search of “administrative/clerical” positions was slightly more productive. But, not a lot. It did come up with some clerical roles in Colorado. But the same search in California pulled in a wide array of inappropriate roles, including one for a doctor of language pathology.

Geographic search

Since searching by job title wasn’t effective, we switched to searching by location. And that at least got results that were geographically close to what we were looking for.

However, searching through 1,000 listings in San Antonio, Tx. for anything akin to what you might want to do is ponderous. When you add the job you want into the search bar, you may get some responsive gigs. But you’ll also get plenty that don’t suit your search criteria.

Privacy

However, a potentially more significant issue arises if you try to apply for any of the jobs on the site. If you hit the apply button next to a job, it does not take you to the job-seeking entity. It signs you up for the RetirementJobs site. And signing up here may deliver your contact information to a variety of companies that want to market to you.

According to RetirementJobs “terms of service”: By accessing and using the Services, you consent to receive communications from AFI (i.e. Age-Friendly Institute, RetirementJobs parent company) through the Services or other means, including emails, push notifications, text messages, and phone calls. These communications may promote AFI or businesses listed on the Site, and may be initiated by AFI or businesses listed on the Site. You further understand that communications may be sent using an automatic telephone dialing system…” 

Recommendations

If you don’t mind being potentially bombarded with advertising messages, sign up. You can find RetirementJobs here.

But, if you don’t want to surrender your privacy and cell phone access to find work, we’d recommend searching for jobs through Indeed, one of the nation’s biggest and most robust job search engines.

If you want solely remote work, consider FlexJobs, which charges a fee for access, but only publishes vetted remote and hybrid gigs. And, you can find employers that favor older workers with WAHVE (insurance, accounting and human resources) and CoolWorks (hospitality jobs and seasonal work).