How many firms of solicitors are complying with equality legislation, with particular regard to age discrimination?

Time and time again (indeed it is the norm) I see jobs advertised for staff who are, for example, ‘1-3 years qualified’, or ‘5-10 years qualified’.

Almost never do I see advertisements demanding ‘at least one year’s experience’, or ‘at least five years’ experience’.

The end result for applicants like me and many others who have decades of relevant experience, and impeccable practising histories and references, is that we never make it to the starting line.

We fail to meet the discriminatory job specifications so carefully ‘set in stone’ by HR managers.

Sour grapes? Yes, most certainly, but with more than ample justification.

After applying for more than 1,000 commercial and other property roles over a three-year period (including many junior positions), and having not received a single job interview, one cannot but be saddened by how solicitors are treating their brethren. Poor CV? My CV has been professionally written and rewritten several times over.

Most agencies come up with all manner of illogical explanations, such as ‘you are overqualified’, but the honest ones in face-to-face meetings confess (off the record) that a 60-year-old has to be on the scrap heap.

I find it sad that an experienced solicitor who works out daily in the gym and competes for ‘senior Team Europe’ in a very demanding sport is now regarded as scrap.

Ivan Sanders, solicitor (non-practising), Kettering