In one such viral video, a Gen Z job seeker spoke out about being denied a job and believed it was partly due to her age. Alejandra, who goes by @fungalmicrobe, said in a video that she spoke to the hiring manager after she was rejected. That person told her she didn’t have a five-year plan; also, talking about her personal life, including being on social media and mentioning medical conditions, counted against her. According to an article in The New York Post, the manager, concluded her comments by telling Alejandra that it was also partially a question of age.
In her video, Alejandra said, “If you’re wondering what the job market looks like right now, look no further than my swollen eyelids. That’s been making me cry for the better part of the last five hours.” She had been optimistic about this opportunity, since it was a company she used to work at and thought that her good relations with the team would pay off.
However, after not hearing anything, Alejandra ran into the hiring manager in an elevator, where she learned that the position had been filled by someone else who was considered a better fit due to their longer tenure with the company. When she asked for constructive feedback that would help her improve in future interviews, his comments left her disheartened.
Alejandra was open about her personal life, which made the hiring manager uncomfortable. She says that he specifically focused on her saying she didn’t have a five-year plan, that it’s part of a “Gen Z problem,” and it means a person isn’t committed enough. “You have to understand it’s all about perception, it’s all about optics. Gen Z needs to understand that you don’t have to share everything about yourself,” the manager is said to have stated.
Alejandra’s tweet struck a chord with many Gen Zers and millennials as they shared their frustrations with both the job market and a generation that is often misunderstood. A recent survey by Resume Builder showed ageism in hiring is alive and well: 42% of 1,000 hiring managers polled in March said they consider a candidate’s age when looking at résumés, while 38% said they make biased decisions based on age when evaluating candidates.
