40 is the New 50: How Millennials Are "Age-Proofing" Their Resumes to Beat Age Discrimination and Land Jobs
Jobseekers in their 30s and 40s are feeling the squeeze in today's competitive white-collar market. Many are strategically trimming their resumes to highlight only the last 10 years of experience—and curating their LinkedIn profiles and professional sites to project a fresher, younger image.
According to reporting from Fortune, this "resume facelift" (sometimes called "resume Botox") has become a common survival tactic amid a tough job recession.
The Growing Reality of Ageism for Mid-Career Millennials
What was once a concern mostly for workers 50+ is now hitting millennials hard. Online career advisors widely recommend age-proofing resumes by:
- Focusing exclusively on accomplishments from the past decade
- Removing older jobs entirely
- Avoiding telltale signs like outdated email addresses (@aol.com or @yahoo.com)
- Handling required graduation dates carefully (when companies demand them)
The AARP itself endorses this approach for older job seekers, emphasizing recent relevance over a full career chronology.
Statistics paint a stark picture: About 90% of workers over 40 report having faced ageism in the workplace, according to a 2024 Resume Now survey. AI-powered hiring tools are reportedly making things worse by introducing biases around age, race, and gender. Hiring platform Workday is currently facing a lawsuit over screening software allegedly discriminating by age (the company denies the claims).
Glassdoor data also shows a 133% year-over-year jump in job seekers mentioning ageism between Q1 2024 and Q1 2025, suggesting perceptions of being "too old" are shifting younger as unemployment pressures mount.
Expert Advice: Leverage Experience Without Letting It Date You
NYU Stern professor and author Suzy Welch (of Becoming You podcast fame) offers practical guidance for navigating this landscape. While she doesn't explicitly endorse hiding your age, she stresses proving you're culturally in tune with younger teams while showcasing what only experience can bring.
Key tips from Welch:
- Build "irregular relationships" — connect across generations to demonstrate cultural fluency and humor alignment with Gen Z and young millennials.
- Shift the interview focus from past achievements to future potential and forward-thinking insights.
- Stay obsessively current on market, industry, and geopolitical trends — your "currency" must look ahead, not backward.
- Highlight unique strengths: superior pattern recognition from years of data, faster crisis navigation ("You've been through hard times"), and better decision-making under pressure.
Hiring managers often default to assuming older candidates are "stuck in their ways." The onus is on you to counter that narrative by showing adaptability and what you can do that younger applicants simply haven't had time to learn.
Final Thoughts
In an era where white-collar jobs are scarce and AI is reshaping hiring, experience is a double-edged sword. Millennials in their 30s and 40s are learning that "40 is the new 50" — and adapting accordingly. While trimming your resume may feel inauthentic, it can be a pragmatic way to get your foot in the door. Once there, let your real-world wisdom shine through in interviews.
If you're in this boat, audit your LinkedIn today, prioritize recent wins, and practice framing your story around future value. The job market may favor youth on paper, but proven resilience and insight remain irreplaceable.