Until I grew a beard I was getting reverse ageism at job interviews. Despite 10 years of programming experience, companies were telling me they wanted someone more "senior".
Who knows, maybe that was just an excuse. But the beard seems to have helped.
That's really strange. When I was just out of college no one took my work experience during college seriously, they all treated me like I was a clean slate even though I had about three years of part-time experience with two full-time summers. I was constantly told, when I actually got feedback, that I was too inexperienced. I was applying for entry-level positions, which these days means you need 1-2 years experience. If I didn't have any work experience at all I don't think I'd ever be able to get a job except perhaps as helpdesk or PC tech.
Somehow I doubt everyone else was treated like a prodigal son when they were younger and my experience was just bad luck or poor preparation. When this was happening in 2007, I was able to get about 20 interviews that only ever amounted to 2 job offers.
This may happen when the interviewer is younger than you -- young inexperienced managers are often underconfident and they just don't feel comfortable interviewing people older and more experienced than themselves.
I started hiring people when I was 26 (now 37), and I can tell from my own experience than my first attempts of interviewing people older than myself were quite uncomfortable -- so it's not surprising that I tended to avoid such applicants.
I've honestly see people directly state the bias when filtering resumes: Old engineers are usually BAD. The company I heard that at was only 4 people so the age discrimination law probably doesn't even apply, but I was flabbergasted to see someone literally say something like that.
One was a consulting company, and the other person to tell me that was a recruiter as a reason for not submitting me for a job i.e., "they're looking for someone more senior"
See, that's actually quite interesting. Both of those live and die by their reputation, and for both of them, you would have been the "product" - the consultant to send to customers, and the potential recruit to present to companies.
As a self-employed consultant I have found that some people get nervous when they find out my age (25, started when I was 23) - presumably because consultants are selling their expertise and judgment to someone who lacks the skills or confidence, else they wouldn't need you. Confidence is a big part of what you're selling. Nobody gives a shit if the 3D engine in a game is written by a 18 year old genius living with his parents, but you're less likely to present him to enterprise customers. Hiring grey-haired sages oozing confidence probably makes business sense for consulting companies - skill may well be secondary; besides, measuring performance is notoriously difficult in the first place.
Similarly, the recruiter may not have been terribly confident themselves and were looking for a proxy who would project confidence.
Who knows, maybe that was just an excuse. But the beard seems to have helped.