The Age Card: Snakes and Ladders
How old are you?
Wait. Don’t tell me. Why? Because I don’t care.
On this great series of interconnected tubes we call the Internet, age is something that doesn’t take precedent over your skills, knowledge or talent. Sometimes. Whether you choose not to disclose your age is completely up to you, and it’s much like a game of snakes and ladders. You’re moving up the board, getting pretty successful and more well known. Disclosing your age (all depending on what it really is) can either further you greatly, or you’ll step on a snake and be behind everyone else.
A 12 year old blogger, nothing out of the ordinary. Why? Because these kids are smart. They wouldn’t write at that level if they weren’t. They realize that in an industry dominated by people significantly older than them, playing the age card, so to speak, can really further them. I’m not going to list examples here, but a quick Google search would leave nothing to desire, I suspect.
The thing with using your age as a method to advance where you are in terms of readership, traffic and personal recognition is that you loose a lot of things in the process. First of all, people are visiting because of your age, not you. Not what you write, not what you have to say. You have to be shameless to say, “Read my blog, I’m 12″, or “12 year old blogger”. It’s just playing on the fact that people will read that and come to your site. They may read something, just to see.
It would be interesting to see what would would happen if these guys had an experiment. I’m not against furthering your self and developing a great site, but if they were completely anonymous, would they achieve the same results?
Switching over for while to the world of freelance. Age is something that can totally hinder you here. Many clients you will come across will likely be older, having the money to hire you (not to say young entrepreneurs and developers don’t, because they definitely do) to invest in outsourcing a job. If you’re young and a client asks you your age before you’ve started the project, what do you do? Should you lie? Will telling the truth loose you the job?
After all, what originally took the potential client to a paying client was your work, your portfolio. The man behind the curtain so to speak is just that- so your age shouldn’t pull any weight here.
Age, race and sex are all things people can and do discriminate against. There are multiple ways, being young, to not be the object of such prejudices. First of all, if you’re just flat out great at what you do, it’s hard to argue that. Second, confront your client. Ask them if your answer to the amount of time you’ve been on this earth holds a pivotal point in you securing the job.
So, are you young? If you use it to further yourself, it’s your choice but keep in mind the things you’re sacrificing (mainly integrity and respect) and the things you stand to gain. If you’re in a freelance situation, think about how you’ll answer the age question. Whether you decide to tell the truth or not, either could have future or immediate consequences.
In conclusion, we all know it’s not a perfect world and your age (among other things) could affect your employability, so to speak. Solution? Judge people on their accomplishments and their abilities, rather than their age.
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Connor Wilson is a freelance web designer and writer living in Toronto, Ontario.
You have certainly raised an interesting topic, but I would never have posted about it because I don’t really care. I post my age on the front page of my blog because I want my blog to have a feeling of honesty. Your name and age are pretty obvious things to tell someone.
I have been providing graphic/web design services since I was about 15 and have never had any issues with my age. Even clients who I consult face to face have never commented. But then I genuinely believe that I am at least as competent, articulate, and intelligent as many of the professionals that offer the same services. I also ensure I have a stunning portfolio of work to push under their noses just in case they look about to ask how old I am :P
By Tom Partridge on June 13, 2007 5:51 am
At 17 Tom, you’re kind of in the place where people stop caring. But as you mentioned, you find all the reasons for clients to forget your age- great work, and you’re on par or in greater intelligence than professionals in the field.
By Connor Wilson on June 13, 2007 7:40 am
I’m currently 16 years old, going on 17 next month, and this issue has been discussed over and over again in the group of teen designers I converse with. It’s one of those things that will hinder you if you let it. For the most part you have to just let it roll off your shoulders, so to say. In my personal experiences, it hasn’t brought any extra attention to my blog, save for the occasional “wow, I can’t believe you’re doing all this at 16″ comment.
As for design, I haven’t really focused much on my freelance work (certain events have kept me from doing so) but in the past I’ve had no problem expressing my age to clients, and not a single one has complained.
By Kevin Sylvia on June 13, 2007 7:51 am
Meh! Feels good that I am past that point. I was past the point when I started doing things seriously on the internet.
(Hmmm. I think I am growing old).
By Vyoma on June 13, 2007 10:19 am
I am honest about my age (14) but try not to use it as a selling point. On my blog I state my age, but don’t advertise as a 14-year-old blogger. I want people to be interested because of my voice and my writing, not my age. However, I do feel that my age gives me a unique perspective. Since I see the world from within the education system, I have very different ideas from a professional programmer supporting his family.
For freelance work, I am honest about my age but most clients are fine with it.
By Arthus Erea on June 13, 2007 3:46 pm
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking about age when you’ve got 17 year olds out there claiming to be professional designers after their homework is done and lacrosse practice is over.
Anyhow you get what you pay for, a client has a right to know if they’re hiring a real designer with training and experience or an amateur.
By joe winnick on June 19, 2007 12:38 pm
Joe, you’re the person this article talks about, really.
If a 17 year old can bring a “trained” designer to school (no pun intended) then why the discrimination?
By Connor Wilson on June 21, 2007 11:11 pm
Connor, please don’t take my comments personally. I’m sure you’re a talented young man and I commend you on your ambition.
However, are you implying a 17 year old can hire an experienced designer, or can be an experienced designer? If you mean can hire, I suppose you’re right. Otherwise I’m sorry to say there’s no high school equivalent of a BFA / MFA, even if you have some small amount of work experience. (I make no presumtions about your personal level of work experience, but the fact is a high school student just cannot have the same level of experience as someone working full time, earning a living in any profession.)
Additionally, if you’re implying a portfolio is the only component upon which qualifications matter, this is also untrue. Someone can have a fabulous portfolio and still be an irresponsible person to hire, or just be showing concepts of never implemented designs.
By joe winnick on June 25, 2007 1:35 pm
Just like Arthus, I am 14 years old.
I do not hide it, but neither do I advertise it.
I hope that people will come to me for my content, and not to see if “that little boy is good enough”. (Although I really haven’t written anything yet…) :)
By Alex on July 2, 2007 1:27 am
I’m not a lawyer, but I think if you lie about your age to get a job it’s misrepresentation and may be legal grounds to terminate a contract at any point or even file a lawsuit for damages based on misrepresentation if the final product doesn’t leave the client satisfied and they can reasonably claim financial damages as a result of your misrepresentation. Might be it’s not even your fault the project bombs and you just get scapegoated because you lied about your age and are an easy target. If you’re working for someone who’s not the end client such as a design agency then they could be held negligent for not realizing your deception. (exactly the sort of thing experienced people think about, and young people usually don’t)
Of course if you’re under 18 you probably can’t be held liable for that sort of thing anyway, so it’s employer beware.
By steve on August 8, 2007 6:45 am