Should H say he is not planning to retire in this interview?

[noretire]

H is 55 and was made redundant this year. He needs to work. ( we have 12 years left on our mortgage and young kids). I have been very worried about him not getting another job due to his age.

He has a job interview for a civil service job within his technical area of specialism.

I am concerned that when they see him they will assume he will be retiring at 60 and not offer him the job. In reality he will not be retiring till 67/68 years old.

Do you think he should mention at interview that he will not be retiring early?

I don't think that he should mention retirement at all.

Don't mention it at all

They won’t ask , he just needs to focus on relaying his skills and experience - there is very little general chat in a CS interview it’s all scripted

I agree, don't mention it. If they weren't going to hire him I doubt it'll make any difference, and if they were considering it bringing up retirement might actually put them off.

Deffo don’t mention. Even if he says it, it’s not like they can hold him to it. No one can really say that they’ll definitely still be working in their 60s. He might be able to give an impression of longevity through answers to questions like “where do you see yourself in 5 years time?” or even why he wants the role- basically answer in a way that implies he has long term plans for the role and personal development.

No need to mention it.
In any case not sure why you think they would assume he wants to retire at 60.

Civil service retirement age is 67/8

This, can't imagine many jobs now that it's retirement at 60?
Unless it's a high physical stress job, healthcare/emergency services/construction/engineering?
What's your retirement plans?

He has already missed out on the age 60 retirement option, that's from the older contracts, so they won't think that.

CS recruitment is all done on scripted questions and strict points for answers, there should be very little room for bias.

Plus, unlike the private sector, how long he stays in post doesn't strongly affect the interviewers so they don't have to worry about that anyway, 5 years would be seen as good!

Does anyone retire at 60 now?

Why would they assume this? Retirement age is 67/68 🤷‍♀️

Please don’t ask him to say that, they will think him a fool. Reitrement is 67/68 and they will think that.

Thanks everyone, that is really helpful. @LaPalmaLlama thanks for that tip, that's a good idea.

Lots of people do still retire at 60? People I know are retiring at this age - not me and H - though I would of if I had stayed at my previous employer ( long story), and my current job I took over from someone who retired at 60. I think for people of H and my age, retiring at 60 is still common. I know people retiring at 50 plus! I am actually dreading hitting 60 as all my peers start to retire and I will still be working!

Of course they do, and younger.

Where I work (CS Adjacent) people who have contracts from a few years ago can retire at 60, so your peers have likely been in their roles a while? These contracts aren't available to new-starters. It might be different there but I'd be surprised.

People still retire at 60 and earlier- it doesn't mean they stop working but they often go back as locums or do something else.
Most organisations will do absolutely anything to get rid of workers over 50 who are expensive and have good contracts and pensions. Then they can replace them with younger cheaper workers who won't question stupid decisions because they don't know any better.
As your husband has found out!
Don't worry about the CS interview, they won't be allowed to discriminate on the basis of age and if they mention retirement and then he's unsuccessful he'd have a good reason to complain.
It's very hopeful that he has an interview - tell him to focus on the core competencies in the job description and use a STARR approach to the interview.

How does this work? Surely anyone can retire and claim their pension from 55 onwards.

At least, that is what a quick glance at the Civil Service pensions website seem to suggest.

You can choose to claim your pension early any time after your pension scheme’s early retirement age:

• nuvos and alpha - 55
• classic, classic plus, and premium members who joined before 06 April 2006 - 50
• classic, classic plus, and premium members who joined on or after 06 April 2006 - 55

Oh! Well I'm very glad to be wrong, I was very recently told this by my line manager who wants to retire but told me he can't!

I have heard the same thing said before too. I have visions of them being chained to a desk until their 68th birthday.

I think what they mean is that they can’t because they can’t afford to live on a reduced pension.

But how will they know his age? I thought, these days, you didn't put your date of birth on your CV, to ward against ageism?

It’s not something I’ve ever asked! We don’t even know the date of birth - dates, names are stripped from CVs when we receive them from recruiting team.

I wouldn’t offer it either!

@User1836484645R

The key word is 'early ' retirement.
The pension age is 67/8. Of course you can retire early if you want to but your pension is reduced

Well he doesn't look 35!

And they can work it out from education/ job history anyway.

It's very hopeful that he has an interview - tell him to focus on the core competencies in the job description and use a STARR approach to the interview

Thanks @ismu Its only the second interview he has been offered since being made redundant, so I am really hoping he gets this one. It would be great - a secure job that he could do till he did retire! I've sent him stuff about the STARR approach. He won't be use at all to public service style interviews so I am trying to prepare him!

I wouldn’t want a candidate who was thinking about retirement, is this his winding down job? In reality he may be there for the next 15 years but his boss will have moved in 3 years so just wants results now.

Don’t mention it. Civil service interviews are all points based so he needs to focus on answering the questions. They try to be recruitment blind so don’t bring it up.