Having a boss who's younger than you..
By maezee
@maezee (41988)
United States
October 5, 2010 5:05pm CST
..And with the same amount of experience?
Have you ever been put in this position? Luckily I haven't, because I recently changed positions. But if I would have stayed in the position I was in a month ago, I would have had to be 'under' a girl who is 2 years younger than me, and who also has a little bit less experience than me.
This would drive me crazy. Especially if she was a power-hungry freak like most bosses I know.
What do you think?
Would that bug you?
10 responses
@zoey7879 (3092)
• Quincy, Illinois
5 Oct 10
Age shouldn't even play into the equation. Experience doesn't always necessarily play into one's work abilities and ethics either. I've almost always advanced quickly at my jobs, and it tends to piss people off. But I've also seen people who have held the same job for 20+ years and they are some of the crappiest workers in the planet.. Always coming back late from breaks, rumor mongers, poor customer service. If I had to promote someone and had my choice between someone like that, or someone employed for say 5 years, but was always on time, polite, friendly, and did her job well, I'd definitely promote the second woman.
Now if they were a power hungry, b@ll$#ck tripping little twit like some bosses as you mentioned... Uh, this bothers me, regardless of age, regardless of everything. Unfortunately, most people I have worked under are like that.
@zoey7879 (3092)
• Quincy, Illinois
6 Oct 10
I worked in several different management and supervisory positions at a fast food chain. I later also worked as a supervisor at a convenience store chain. I turned down a promotion at a different fast food chain that I later worked at, as well as at a retail chain who paid their supervisory positions somewhat generously (for being that type of retail market).
After the first fast food experience and the convenience store experience as a supervisory, I'll be a rotting corpse before I take a management or supervisory position again unless its my dream job.
When I worked at Burger King we got a new assistant manager one day named Earl. Earl had accidentally dropped his wallet in the lobby and I was the one who found it some time later. I opened it so I could look for an ID - I intended to look the owner up in the phone book and ring them up. Then I realized that Earl was an assistant manager of a restaurant at age 18. I was really impressed by that (I was 20) and I mentioned it to him.. and he begged me not to tell anyone else on the staff because he was afraid that they wouldnt respect him.
@bounce58 (17387)
• Canada
7 Oct 10
Before this job I have right now, I used to work for a small company with just a few employees. There was just the owner and a guy who has been with the company for quite a while. I guess I reported to this guy who was younger than me. I admit I was a bit annoyed with the set up because I clearly knew more than him.
Thankfully I didn't have to stay there long. He did help give me a good recommendation to my new job, so I think it all worked out in the end for me.
@charmaine36 (145)
• Jamaica
7 Oct 10
As long as he or she is a great person and treats the coworkers with respect and fairness i don't have a problem. The problem is when your boss lacks leadership and people skills and is very self-centred or power-hungry as you say.
@thaMARKER (2503)
• Philippines
6 Oct 10
the supervisor that i very like is younger than i am, she was like 24 i guess.. few years younger and she was so cool and always trying to level with everybody. we used to talk a lot about almost everything and she's a total fun. just too bad, she left the office because her husband was assigned to a different place for a job. i miss her.. since then, i've never had a boss younger than..
@kukueye (1759)
• Malaysia
6 Oct 10
Personally i think age is not matter much , as long as the younger boss is experience or have good managerial skills to deal with the senior staffs.Even young boss but with good managerial skills still can handle the senior staffs with respects and result oriented and objective focused and not deal too much on emotionals and feelings. however , it is common for conflict to occur with the younger boss and its senior staffs causing either the younger boss can transferred and common for the senior staffs to be sacked or resign due to conflicts.
@Kitoy85 (6)
• United States
6 Oct 10
For me its true that it's really awkward to have a younger boss. But I think it also depends on the situation your in. Like for example if your younger boss is approachable and seems to be nice to interact with then that's fine with me. But if it goes the other way around and her/his attitude exceeds beyond limit then that's another issue.
@madteaparty (2748)
• Japan
6 Oct 10
Well, it wouldn't bother me. I have been in the situation of being in a higher position than many other workers in my previous company, and most of them had that silly idea about a person younger not suited to be over them. The thing is that I wasn't as young as they thought and I was more experienced than them, so I just ignored their stupidness and did my work the best I could 
@kodukodu84 (1569)
• Malaysia
6 Oct 10
I wouldn't know how it feels like for me, maybe I would feel quite weird. I've been working with older boss and who are more experienced than me all along, the only thing that pissed me off is that they are always right even if it's not related to our work and company at all.
