14 jobs and 5 industry changes later - marketing and editorial professional Imran Johri found himself facing ageism in the job market.
File photo of people crossing the street at the central business district in Singapore. This, I would soon realise - in hiring terms - was code for,"I don’t think you’ll fit in, old man". That in itself didn’t bother me much, but what did bother me though, was that I was beginning to see a trend.
Now, anyone who’s ever seen my resume will either brand me an incorrigible job-hopper or commend me for my extensive and varied work experience. To be fair, both of these cursory judgments are valid. Despite this - never would I imagine that after 24 years of chasing that next new exciting project - I would come to a head-on collision withThe first five years of work were often peppered with, “let’s do this, you’re clearly hungry” from my first bosses. And I absolutely was, my risk appetite was bottomless and I wanted to do more, all the time.
By 2018, I had become the head of marketing for a venture capital but alas, I had also come to a point where I had to make another tough choice. I had to either become an entrepreneur, as per the philosophy of the VC, or choose an alternate pathway, which the organisation would fully endorse and support either way.
They were always early- to mid-30s marketeers, who’d attained an accelerated upward trajectory in the marketing world and were now the marketing heads. But here’s the thing about being an older guy with experience, I will second-guess and challenge the decision-making process if I think there might be a better way of doing things.So am I the problem here? Maybe. Is ageism being practised? I think so. But not in an absolutist way. In fact, I would argue that it’s nuanced and contextual. In the end, just as I eventually knew what would not work in my favour - I started seeing what would.
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