It is quite common for businesses to hire recent college graduates. After all, most people go to college in order to get an education and use that to land a job. Recent graduates are a major part of the incoming workforce. Companies also like to bring in college students to create age diversity within their workforce.
But when a company is creating a job posting, it’s important that they do not state directly that they are looking to hire recent college graduates. Why is it problematic to say this?
It could be an indication of age discrimination
The trouble is that “recent college graduates” tend to be people who are in their 20s. If someone started college at 18 and graduated in four years, they would only be 22 years old. Even those who take longer to go through college or who are delayed in starting for some reason are still going to be relatively young.
Therefore, a company that explicitly states that it wants to hire recent college graduates is telling older workers not to apply for that position. The inference is that they would not qualify if they are in their 40s with 20 years of work experience, and they graduated decades ago.
Now, it is true that there are recent college graduates in their 40s or 50s. There is no age limit on when you’re allowed to start college. But this type of wording is still problematic because of the stereotypes and implications that go with it, making older workers feel discriminated against, so it should be avoided.
Unfortunately, things like age discrimination do still exist. Those who are experiencing them must know about their legal options.