I am not a lawyer, but is this not illegal in the U.S.? Checking The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website[1], it says under the "PROHIBITION OF AGE DISCRIMINATION" section: (e) Printing or publication of notice or advertisement indicating preference, limitation, etc. [1] http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/adea.cfm
It's not that people with 12+ years of experience are not as good. We were trying to screen out candidates (many of them who are smart) but have been "managers" for so long that they can't get their hands dirty and solve issues themselves (something you have to do at a very small team).
Don't take my word for it, 26% of people on our team are older than 38. If you're bored, check out some of their bios at 500friends.com/team
Admittedly however, this was not clear in our post, and it has since been edited.
Thanks!!