Is it Illegal for a Recruiter to Ask for Your Date of Birth?

When in a job search, do you give out your date of birth to recruiters when asked?

What about the last 4 digits of your social security number?

Last week when onboarding a new consultant, he asked me if it is illegal for a recruiter to ask for his date of birth to submit his resume to a job. He said recruiters he didn’t know were asking and it concerned him.

In the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), it is technically not illegal to ask date of birth. However, it is risky to the recruiter who asked. This type of question may indicate an intent to discriminate and is closely scrutinized.

Unfortunately, some companies use date of birth as an ATS field. Usually, they only require the month and day and not the year. So, I would recommend only giving out the month and day in this part of the process.