>>>Tom,
>>>
>>>A gross case of age discrimination if I ever saw one. How did they get away with it?
>>
>>Jim;
>>
>>I think there is a great reluctance to sue for age discrimination as you might win but would be “black listed” by employers. Most employers prefer to not hire anyone who is over 40 in technical areas.
>
>Are you not already 'blacklisted' by your very age? I commend you for your acceptance and restraint in the matter. I am afraid I would not have handled it so gracefully.
>
>I too have been through those interviews by the ~20ish crowd. One that I remember the most started out with "Tell me what a decibel is." I sat in shock for maybe 15 seconds, then broke out laughing. This was for a DSP hardware/software development and test position. Guess they wanted to weed out the wanabees ;-) As this fellow was my potential manager, I cut things short and made my escape. Idiots with government funding...

Jim;

Questions like that prompt me to ask, "As related to power or audio"? That throws those that do not know what they are talking about.

About three years ago I was interviewed by two “golly gee whiz kids” – the young guys with lots of enthusiasm and little else – at a headhunter’s office on a Friday morning. They had a number of questions that I answered satisfactorily and made an offer on the spot after only a one-hour interview. The salary and benefits were defined and I was asked to report to work Monday morning. Saturday I received a call from the headhunter stating, “They really liked you and I got them to increase your salary”. Well, thank you and all that.

Monday morning I reported to work and was told to go to a meeting room. The two “golly gee whiz kids” came in and said, “Welcome Tom, it is great to see you! Mr.___ will be in to see you and discuss your new position!” They left and a moment later a fellow walked about two steps into the room and made this statement – “We have nothing for you”! This guy was to be my manager. He was about to leave the room when I verbally stopped him.

At first I considered raising my 6’ 7” frame and pulverizing him as if I was a meat grinder and he was moldy excretion. However, I turned it around and we had a discussion about the company for 1 ½ hours. After getting the real details about the company I was told we would work a minimum 16-hour day seven days a week. We had to get the product to market ASAP! Then I was told that in fact I had a job as of the previous Friday, however over the weekend the decision was made to not continue using Microsoft tools and operating systems. They went Java/Linux.

I said thank you and left feeling so good that I did not in fact have a job at the “happy farm”. A few months later they were out of business. Thank you Lord for giving me the opportunity to not explode when I wanted to!

Tom