How to create an age-neutral CV as a contractor

As part of the official launch for the Festival of CVs, I’d like to share with ContractorUK readers a LinkedIn post I spotted entitled ‘How to avoid giving away your age on a CV.’

The post gave five rules to follow on your CV to avoid ageism potentially hitting you, and all five are worth following, writes Matt Craven, founder of The CV & Interview Advisors.

Top five ‘anti-ageist’ CV rules

1. Never include your DOB (Date Of Birth).

2. Never list the jobs that you did more than 20 years ago.

3. Never include dates of education relating to any school, college, and/or university.

4. Never include “O-Levels.”

5. Never say in the CV profile that you have “20 years of experience” or similar.

Remember the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006? I do…

At the risk of showing my own age, I remember back in 2006 when I worked in an investment bank I was involved in discussions around age discrimination.

These discussions were being held just before the then-new age discrimination legislation was introduced in October that year -- The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006.

It’s mind-boggling to me that 19 years later (the same length of time that my business The CV & Interview Advisors has been trading) we’re still talking about age discrimination.

Over 45? You already feel on the employability scrap heap

But I’m going to be the bearer of bad news.

It almost feels like the UK has gone backwards.

In 2025, I’d say that, anecdotally, anyone over the age of 45 is probably more than familiar with the feeling of being tossed on the ‘employability scrap heap.’

It’s quite scary really. I’m 52, so heaven knows how I would fare if I ever needed a ‘proper’ job!

As a result, I fully endorse what the original poster from LinkedIn is saying -- hide your age on your CV. And so I wholeheartedly recommend the poster’s five-fold approach, including to contractors as actually, all you’re really doing is making your CV ‘age-neutral.’ And it’s this that is key when applying for any type of work.

Date Of Birth on your CV? Not in the UK

Some countries expect a date of birth on job candidate CVs.

But it’s safe to omit your D.O.B. from your CV in the UK.

As to the second rule provided by the OP, I would suggest creating a ‘Relevant Earlier Career’ section on your CV.

In this section, you put any role further back than ten years ago -- as long as it’s relevant.

What’s in your Relevant Earlier Career section?

Feel free to flex that 10 years; maybe your ‘Relevant Earlier Career section’ has entries dating back 12, 14 or 16 years. Or maybe just 7 years. Either way, go with whatever (or whenever) feels appropriate.

But the word ‘relevant’ in the name of this CV section gives you the get-out-of-jail-free card for not including everything back to the year dot.

Delete education dates on your CV

As to the OP’s third rule, I agree. Dates on education and qualifications are a dead giveaway, so remove them (unless you feel they are in your favour).

Rule four is a must-follow too.

I agree that the inclusion of “O-levels” on a CV ages both the document and the candidate!

Remove the eighties education relic

So hit ‘delete’ if you’re still talking ‘O-levels’ in 2025.

After all, O-levels were replaced by GCSEs in 1987.  

Rule five is right on the money too, as part of making your CV age-neutral.

CV no-no: Avoid writing ‘With 30 years experience in…’

So avoid the age-old “with 30 years of experience in XYZ.”

It’s another age-discrimination red flag, so it’s worth hitting ‘delete’ from that perspective alone.

But this point about using your CV to boast about (presumably) a lot of years doing something deserves further pause for another reason.

Experience isn’t talent, so go easy trying to dazzle with numbers

As I said to someone the other day, “How long does it take to become good at your job?”

What I was getting at here is -- do you have to have plugged away for 30 years to be at the top of your game? Or could you have achieved that similarly high level of expertise in just 10 years?

Is the person with 25 years of experience better than the person with 15 years of experience?

The answer may differ based on the type of role in question or the industry, perhaps.

Generally though, I would argue that experience isn’t talent, and simply citing years of experience is often used on CVs in absence of a meaningful value proposition.

It’s what I call ‘selling grey hairs and whiskers’ rather than selling a clear capability or skill set!

How older job-seekers should appear on CVs in 2025

In addition to these five anti-ageist rules above, and my addendum that it probably shouldn’t take you 30 years to excel at something, if age is not on your side as a contractor, it’s crucial to ensure you appear:

• professionally savvy;
• up-to-date, including on your CV; and
• current, including on your LinkedIn profile.

So when drafting the content of your CV, referencing concepts such as “personal branding” and “thought leadership” while being seen as tech-savvy, such as perhaps embracing Artificial Intelligence, could be good tactics to employ. Especially if you’re feeling your age.

Layout and LinkedIn shouldn’t look antiquated

The same goes for CV layout.

Make sure your CV is laid out in a modern format.

By contrast, having two references at the end of your CV might appear old-fashioned.

Likewise, aspire to have a well-presented, fresh LinkedIn profile.

Some ‘old-timer’ contractors might turn their noses up at social media, but it’s a stigma you could do without if you are keen to swat aside any age-related discrimination.

Does your LinkedIn photo age you?

Photos can also do more harm than good if you’re doing the right thing and aiming for age neutrality as a professional job candidate.

Indeed, I’d completely omit a photo from a CV. And then I’d get some professional editing assistance for your LinkedIn profile. This is particularly key if you feel your LinkedIn photo ages you.

New tricks. Or reinviting the wheel? Neither...

Age shouldn’t be a barrier in the jobs market in 2025. So let’s not allow employers to judge us on those grounds. Yet if you’re feeling a bit creaky, take steps to make your CV age-neutral, dazzle them with your talents, and impress them with your results-oriented track record, with a unique value proposition to boot that makes them realise there’s life in the old dog yet!

For a deeper look at CV tactics, check out our entire week of career workshops that we are calling the Festival of CVs | The CV & Interview Advisors