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Show HN: Hire an Oldster

tryoldster.com

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Re: Show HN: Hire an Oldster

#2

Post by edoceo »

I'm 40, in tech years that's like 1000. I also see value in hiring experience but explicitly factoring by age discriminates against a protected class in the USA. I think a lawsuit is in my future if I use this for placement at my company.

Of course, if you simply rebranded to talk about "experience" rather than "age" then solvelem probbed.

Also, age != experience != skill.

Re: Show HN: Hire an Oldster

#4

Post by mamurphy »

Interesting idea. Let me talk about something very tangential, if I may: a minor branding query.

Why go with "A Qureshi Media startup. Contact us at contact@qureshimedia.com" in the site footer?

It made me wonder "hmm, why haven't I heard of Qureshi Media, let me check them out, they are probably some huge media conglomerate." To my surprise, http://qureshimedia.com/ appears to be the website of a consultancy that includes the less than inspiring text "Our new site will be up soon."

If you are managing multiple established brands, having that in the site footer makes sense to me. For what appears to be a company's only brand, I wonder if it might be better relegated an "About" page. Thoughts?

Re: Show HN: Hire an Oldster

#6

Post by terrib1e »

Brilliant! I'm only 30 but I know plenty of older folks that have a hard time finding jobs. This is basically an issue across all industries. I'd love to get involved in this and help it grow.

Re: Show HN: Hire an Oldster

#7

Post by cookiecaper »

While I think there are issues with the presentation, as edoceo noted, I love anything that stands to dispel the startup bubble myth that experience is a contraindication. I've been privileged to work in companies with programmers in their 50s and 60s and they've been great mentors. Their work continues to be top-notch and the insight and maturity they bring is absolutely invaluable.

In order to keep their labor costs depressed, VCs are incentivized to promote the lie that a very young workforce is an inherent asset, but there is simply no replacement for experience. As the industry continues to mature, that will be self-evident, as it is in all other mature industries.

Re: Show HN: Hire an Oldster

#8

Post by mamurphy »

edoceo wrote: post #2

I'm 40, in tech years that's like 1000. I also see value in hiring experience but explicitly factoring by age discriminates against a protected class in the USA. I think a lawsuit is in my future if I use this for placement at my company. Of course, if you simply rebranded to talk about "experience" rather than "age" then solvelem probbed. Also, age != experience != skill.

It's good to note that this would be a worry, and the name Oldster is troubling, as it's common definition is "an old person."

However, aside from that, they do seem to toe the line with phrases like "veteran," "Experience never gets old" and "senior advertising professionals" without explicitly referencing age anywhere. And, at least arguably, an "Oldster" is any experienced professional who uses their site, regardless of age.

Re: Show HN: Hire an Oldster

#9

Post by adamqureshi »

mamurphy wrote: post #4

Interesting idea. Let me talk about something very tangential, if I may: a minor branding query. Why go with "A Qureshi Media startup. Contact us at contact@qureshimedia.com" in the site footer? It made me wonder "hmm, why haven't I heard of Qureshi Media, let me check them out, they are probably some huge media conglomerate." To my surprise, http://qureshimedia.com/ appears to be the website of a consultancy that in…

I AM working on it! thank you. ;-)
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