To think they’re discriminating my photo?

[Panicking40609]

I am on the Care website as a provider of childcare. When I signed up and set up my profile it required a photo of myself. A brief description of me, I look young (could pass for late teens, very early 20s) and have bleach blonde hair.

AIBU to think they’re discriminating because of the photo as this is my experience?

7 years experience in education and childcare settings
Worked with ages 0-11, particularly early years even new borns
Training in SIDS, first aid, behavioural problems
Experience working 1-1 with SEN children including attachment disorder and ASD.

My experience and skills are solid and I firmly believe this, however I’m getting no interest or being rejected from 30+ jobs now. Not even a reply to any applications.

Buy a wig and redo the pic to see?

It depends how you’re presented in Your photo. What you are wearing, doing etc has a big impact on whether people would hire you.

Well it's hard to say without seeing who they do interview and hire ?

If you've listed your experience then no it won't be your photo

redo the photo, if you think that

I can’t help that I look very young though.

I don’t think so, I was on there at 17, looking 12, also with very blonde hair and a baby face. I got plenty of work.

Redo the photo if you want, but I don’t think it’ll be that based on my experience.

It is just a smiling picture, portrait style, plain background wearing a jumper.

Tbh, childcare has become much less of an issue with so many people working from home.

Of course some still need it but many no longer do and would rather save the money.

What kind of childcare are you offering? Could it be Covid and people WFH affecting it?

I don't know the website but do you have to write about yourself, or just list your experience and previous employment? If the former, I would recommend that you get someone else to have a look over it.

If you have listed all your experience and have references etc ,it doesn't matter how old you look surely ?

What is your employment history like?

I have no idea - it could be because of a range of factors - however the pose you strike in a photo does affect the impression you give or the assumptions people make. Look at the different ways people are presented in corporate photos depending on what image they want to encourage.

Passport style but smiling? Side on? Half smile? Happy smile? Pouty smile?

There was a thread the other day by someone struggling with being rejected from job applications. On drilling down further it transpired the problem was their CV/cover letter and how they were presenting themselves. Maybe the way you're writing applications is a factor, maybe there's just huge competition.

If you thought that you'd redo the photo or set up the profile without a photo and give that a shot.

It is just as likely to be that they can pay less to someone aged 21 with less qualifications.

I've rarely come across someone who tells me they look very young, who genuinely does look how young they think. They generally look around their age.
However if you have decided to use one of those filters and odd posing for the camera faces, they might have decided you look too immature whatever your age.

Try tying your hair back, put on a smart blouse and dark jacket as though you were working in a bank and see how it goes.

Or you can post the photo on here and have everyone tell you that you don't look a day over 87 and have you been called for your covid vaccine yet.

I’d have thought it was far more to do with being in a pandemic than your bleach-blonde hair.

Try a different photo if you think parents are discriminating against you because of it though. One that’s less of a close up.

OP I look young for my age and I know for a fact people judge my photo in a similar role. However, I feel eventually my cv and upon meeting me things balance out and it's ok. Perhaps you could get some independent advice on how to tweak your photo and profile to seem as professional and experienced as possible.

Nothing to do with pandemic as these are new job postings.

I’ve just been searching for childcare recently, looking young does put me off initially but they would be able to work out you’re not a teenager by your experience if they read your page. Have you got a logo you could use in place of a picture of you? Lots of people do that.
Also I found the care website a bit odd and left pretty much immediately, try childcare.co.uk.

If I wanted child minder I'd look for a motherly type person.if I wanted a babysitter for evenings then a younger person would be fine. Don't ask me why. It isn't very logical.

Any Care work involves trust, it is odd you mention looking young, as at 16 I lived in and cared for a four year old for three weeks.
As long as the child/ren are safe and happily occupied, looking young shouldn’t be an issue.

Someone mentioned “Pouty smile” which made me laugh.. But unlikely you will have a flirty pic on an agency site,
More likely to be Market Forces and people WFH.

You've listed your experience but not your qualifications. Do you have any?

I say this as someone who had years of experience, similar to you, but never got round to completing my qualification (I was lazy when it came to academia when I was younger). I was regularly passed over for jobs that I would have excelled at, because I didn't have any formal qualifications.

@Viviennemary

If I wanted child minder I'd look for a motherly type person.if I wanted a babysitter for evenings then a younger person would be fine. Don't ask me why. It isn't very logical.

I had a couple of teenaged boys for Young DS do a sterling job. DS is friends with one of them still. Responsibility is the key.

Do you mention working with SEN children?
I wouldn't like that at all; it is "children with SEN".

@Panicking40609

Nothing to do with pandemic as these are new job postings.

Even if these are new job postings, if there are less postings due to the pandemic or just more people out of work due to the pandemic, they could be getting a lot more applicants than normal.

Take a look at other profiles on the site. I don't know what kind of childcare work you're looking for, but when I was looking at childminders on a local site, most profiles seemed to have more friendly photos (rather than professional headshots) and focus on chatty descriptions, with qualifications/experience listed further down.