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Feeling Old

I am definitely in the demographic where such interview questions could be asked to correctly peg my vintage. It's not happened so far but interesting to know. The Chinese Zodiac sign is the most bizarre of them all:

A really sneaky way I’ve seen employers pinpoint an age is asking candidates what their Chinese zodiac animal is (rat, dragon, rabbit, etc.),” says Janelle Owens, HR Director at Test Prep Insight. “For those that don’t know, these are the animals and years you’ve probably seen on placemats at Chinese restaurants.”

Each animal only comes up every 12 years, so given the potential timespan, you can typically use this info, with other questions about pop culture, to back into their birth year.  

Its a lot easier on everyone if the conversation turns to kids for some reason. There is a minimum number of years you can add to the age of the child to arrive at the lowest possible age of the parent. If I sensed that there was this pregnant question in the air about my age that was not being asked, I have mentioned J and that seems to ease the situation and people move on. I have been in teams that on average have people older than me and others where I felt like the only adult in the room. There is a big difference in how each group dynamic works. In the young person group, I often end up in a mentoring relationship with a few folks and that works well. In the older person group, its can become about proving who has the most mileage - everyone has been there and done that. Fresh perspective is hard to come by. The ideal situation is an even mix of ages which has happened on occasion. 

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