This is a refreshing perspective for someone who works with mid to late-career folks who are often struggling with the other end of age discrimination. They start to question their value when compared to younger candidates who are more technically savvy and are able/willing to work for less money than someone with 15–20 years experience.
My career coaching clients who are in the market for a new job, either due to a layoff or by choice, struggle with the perception that they’re “too expensive” even if they’re willing to take a pay-cut to do work they love.
Because recruiters have SO many resumes to weed through, they do anything they can to reduce their workload to something more manageable. This can include making (often untrue) assumptions about the candidate based on their graduation date, number years of work experience, and even the address listed in their contact info (which is one of several reasons why you should no longer put a physical address on your resume).
Sometimes I have to coach my clients first on how to downplay the amount of experience they have in the application process, just so they can get their foot in the door for the interview process, and then show them how to play up their many years of experience as an asset to hopefully receive an offer.
You may be wondering, why don’t they just apply for jobs at their own level? Guess what, the higher you get in your career, the fewer opportunities there are. If you reach VP level and then get laid off, there are usually only a few VP positions at most companies, and most of those positions are already filled. Therefore, mid- to late-career job seekers may be forced to take a few steps back just to find their next opportunity.
In either case though, if you can show you have good ideas and that you can implement those ideas, then like Todd said, you become more marketable, regardless of your age or experience level. This is true even if you decide to work for yourself. Show your potential clients that you have good ideas and the ability to implement them, and they’ll want to hire you.

