Barbara Corcoran says older workers should act young and 'full of life' in interviews to land jobs due to the problem of ageism

• Barbara Corcoran said ageism is still a problem at work and over 50s will struggle to land jobs.
• She said older workers should try to appear young and energetic to boost their chances in interviews.

Ageism is still alive and well in the workplace with older professionals often facing the short end of the stick in job interviews, but Shark Tank investor Barbara Corcoran offered some advice on how to beat the odds.

74-year-old Corcoran, founder of The Corcoran Group, was recently asked in a live Q&A on her Patreon, about how to turn ageism in the workplace into an asset.

Corcoran first shared some sobering thoughts saying: "Ageism is a problem and I'd be lying to you if I said 'Don't worry about it. This is how you fix it up.' The fact of the matter is when you're applying for jobs, if you're over 50, people are going to hesitate. They're going to see who else they have under 50."

A 2022 AARP survey of 2,945 US adults aged 50 and over found that 15% of respondents who applied for a job in the past two years were rejected based on their age. 53% were asked by employers to provide a birth date, and 47% were asked to provide a graduation date.

93% of respondents also said that discrimination against older workers is common in the workplace today.

Corcoran explained that over 50s needed to create an impression of being young and energetic in an interview.

"Put your best foot forward," Corcoran said. "When you go into that interview whether that be a Zoom interview or in person, you gotta look your best. Vitality is what fools an employer. If you walk in there, vital, full of life, and enthusiasm they're going to forget that you're 53 and think you're acting younger and be more attracted to you."

She noted that her older employees tended to have more experience and wisdom and that they should use that to their advantage.

"I hire many people that are older and you know what I find better about older people very often is they have so much more wisdom. There's no circumstance that they run into that they haven't seen before and have a solution for. So you take a lot less training, be aware of that. You have a lot more life experience and judgment you bring forth."

One 56-year-old IT specialist told Business Insider's Rebecca Knight in 2023 that after being laid off he was rejected by 31 companies despite having worked at two big tech firms.

Ray Peeler, an associate legal counsel at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission told Knight that it's difficult to prove age discrimination in interviews unless there's specific evidence to show that recruiters decided not to hire someone because of their age.