No Gray Hairs in the Job Market

In the past week, I had two encounters that made me think about age in the job market, and how having kids influences this.

When I first came to Germany in 2001, after having completed a masters degree in London, I was 21. My young age was seen as a liability in many of my first job interviews, and the interviewers explicitly stated this. In the first years when I was working, I wondered whether I just have to sit things out, until I am old enough to be taken seriously here. Two years ago, I was told that for a senior job in my field, my counterparts expected a "few more gray hairs" (I do not have any). It seems like ten years later, I was still considered too young.

To be completely self-critical, I think I just never managed to climb the promotion ladder, for whatever reasons. Too young, too impatient, too eager to try new things.

And suddenly, I realize that the people I'm competing for jobs to re-enter the job market are very much younger than me. Not just a year or two, but even six or seven.

I am still glad to have had my kids very early, and to be in this situation in my early 30s. For Germany, this is still an age when you start your first job. If I imagine how things would feel if I would have had my three kids not in my 20s but in my 30s, and would be trying to enter the job market in my 40s, I would be in more despair than I am now. No gray hairs yet can be an asset after all.