This 69-year-old’s bid to be 49 was lacking, but his story highlights an unresolved issue – ageism in hiring.

Sixty-nine-year-old “Positivity Trainer” Emile Ratelband was refused a legal “age change” by the Dutch court despite his argument that his legal age was inconsistent with how he “identifies”.

His argument drew criticism as it seemed to piggyback off the legal arguments for hard-won protections for transgender people.

“I say it’s comparable because it has to do with my feeling,” explained Ratelband, “ with respect about who I think … I am, my identity.”

It seems, however, that his true qualm with his age is how others see him, and not how he sees himself.

“If I’m 49, then I can buy a new house, drive a different car. I can take up more work,” says the Dutchman. “When I’m on Tinder and it says I’m 69, I don’t get an answer. When I’m 49, with the face I have, I will be in a luxurious position.”

The logic of Ratelband’s comparison between gender confirmation and age reassignment failed to convince the courts, with their official statement reading:

“Mr. Ratelband is at liberty to feel 20 years younger than his real age and to act accordingly, but changing his legal documents would have undesirable legal and societal implications.”

“Ratelband’s insistence on comparing his own situation with the trans movement is not just offensive. It highlights the inadequacies of his argument” – @HolstaT weighs in on #EmileRatelband https://t.co/2JvntYBauo

— CNN Opinion (@CNNOpinion) November 15, 2018

For example, certain legal responsibilities like driving, voting, or drinking are explicitly tied to specific ages. And what happens to the time taken away? Are diplomas issued during this period valid? Are nuptials annulled? Are pensions still paid out? Are mortgages collectible?

The absurdity of Ratelband’s request is indeed apparent. However, the incident should give the recruiting industry pause, as ageism remains a prevalent problem in today’s workplace, especially in the hiring process. According to AARP research, 61 percent of workers age 45 plus report experiencing ageism on the job, with the majority characterizing it as “common”.

Sixteen percent of respondents from the same study believe they have been denied employment because of their age. In 2015 Anglia Ruskin University conducted a study in which two sets of CVs – one stating the applicant age as 28, and the other as 50 – were submitted to over 2,000 job advertisements. Researchers found that the 28-year-old was four times as likely to receive a response from an employer.

So, the real question facing recruiters is – what negative biases could Ratelband be trying to subvert by legally lowering his age?

To shed light on this issue, we present some of the most common myths about mature workers, and facts to dispel them…

Myth: Older people are tech inept and have fewer skills than younger people.

Fact: A 2013 study from North Carolina University found in a survey of the over 1.6 million users of the online programming forum, that the average programmer reputation score increased with age, with programmers in their 50s typically exhibiting a greater knowledge base than their younger counterparts.

Myth: Older people are stuck in their ways and don’t wan to learn new things.

Fact: Research from the AARP reveals that 80 percent of workers aged 45-85 cite “the opportunity to learn something new” as a fundamental trait of their ideal job.

Myth: Older people are poor performers and aren’t motivated to do well.

Fact: In 2013, the Cogito Study evaluated two groups of adults – one, ages 20-30, and the other, ages 65-80 – on the performance of 12 tasks over 100 days. The researchers were surprised to discover that the group of older adults performed markedly better, with more stable and less variable performance as well as higher motivation.

Ageism, as a topic, cannot be ignored much longer. It’s estimated that by 2030, workers age 55 plus will comprise almost 30 percent of the American workforce. And it’s not just the US, Joyce DeMonnin, Communications & Media Relations Director at AARP explains, “The whole globe is aging. People have longer lifespans and fewer children, but another consideration is that older people are also your customers.”

Students are graduating later and working more between classes. In the face of these demographic shifts, is the same old internship system still viable?

According to pop culture, a college student is a late-teen, plaid-clad specimen, recently graduated from high school, spouting psych 101 interpretations of Freud between weekend dorm shenanigans and set to graduate in four years. The problem is, this is no longer true, or hasn’t been for a while, if it ever was.

The majority of today’s college students aren’t living care-free on campus, they’re independent (sometimes with dependents) part-time students, with full-time jobs on top of their course load. A completed bachelor’s degree is attained by only 33.8 percent of the US population, and for many of those, college is less an Animal House coming of age adventure, but more a load of debt that ends with an unpaid internship.

“I don’t think people have got their heads wrapped around that yet,” says Alexandria Walton Radford, head of postsecondary education research at the North Carolina think tank RTI International. According to their research, ”this isn’t a new phenomenon. We’ve been looking at this since 1996.”

A typical college student today is nontraditional, a term Radford and her team define as having one of the following characteristics, which 74 percent possess. An additional 30 percent count two or three.

• Financially independent from their parents (in the eyes of financial aid)
• Have a child or other dependent
• Are the sole single caregiver
• Lack a traditional high-school diploma
• Delay postsecondary enrollment
• Attend school part-time
• Are employed full-time

To give you an idea of what this new normal looks like, one in four students enrolled in higher education programs are caring for a child. Two in five of those students are attending community college, as opposed to a four-year institution. Of those matriculated at the latter, nearly a quarter are part-time, and about the same number are over 25.

That means the majority of graduates embark into post-collegiate life with a wealth of life and work experience, so treating them as ingenues away from home for the first time just seems like bad recruiting.

How to recruit for the new normal:

We talked with Melissa Weir, director of B2B Marketing for WayUP, a platform for college students and recent grads looking to break into the world of work. Here’s what Weir has found surveying their user base.

1. 1. Make opportunities accessible: “Since most students live off campus,” Weir reminds us, “it’s important to have internships and job opportunities available online. Career fairs are great, but with most students working at least part-time and/or caring for children, it’s not always feasible to be there in person.”
   2. Don’t wait ‘til graduation: “We see employers recruiting as early as sophomore year,” says Weir, “especially in the financial sector.” Why not take a cue from these titans of industry and look for students to fill internships and entry-level jobs? We know many of these students work full-time already, and a job in their industry would beat the retail/food service gigs usually available to pre-grads. Make this a viable option by offering flexible working hours or remote working alternatives.
   3. Learn what work-life balance means to them: “Thirty-eight percent of the students we surveyed last year defined work-life balance as ‘doing something you love’,” says Weir. “This definition was surprising at first, but if you think for a moment it actually makes a lot of sense. Many students are delaying their education, taking time to solidify their career goals and save up as they will be financing their education themselves. At the end of it, they want to find a job they really love that is worth the sacrifice.”
   4. Show off your values: “Ninety-one percent of students chose ‘values emphasized during recruiting and the reputation/culture’ when asked how they suss out the optimal fit for themselves at a company.” Says Weir. And authenticity is a big factor. For example, students overwhelmingly preferred the offer of 10 vacation days to that of unlimited because they felt the latter to be disingenuine. Takeaways here are: check your company’s online reviews, pick some positive traits of your work culture to emphasize, and be explicit about the benefits and perks of the job.