George Wolf believes his age was a major obstacle to landing a job. Photo for Civic Ventures by Michael Falco.

The headhunter sounded urgent on the phone and George Wolf hurried to the interview. But when Wolf was called from the waiting room, his interview lasted barely two minutes. The recruiter looked at him quizzically and told him, “We’ll distribute your resume to our clients and see if anybody needs someone like you.”

The Great Recession has once again made age bias in the job market a hot issue, if still a delicate one to address. Overt discrimination based on age, against both employees and job applicants who are over 40, is barred by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. But as Wolf, who started his job search at 78, discovered, many employers subtly (and not so subtly) shun older workers.

>>Read the results of our survey on age bias in the workplace

The unemployment rate for those 55 and older rose to 7 percent last month, the highest rate in at least 60 years. That’s lower than the overall jobless rate, which is climbing toward 10 percent. But the Labor Department reports that unemployed workers 55 and older are jobless longer – an average of nearly 30 weeks, compared to 21 weeks for those under 55.

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which handles complaints of age bias, says claims jumped 29 percent in the year that ended last September and have continued at a high pace this year.

But many claims are hard to prove. “At age 57, I was interviewed for a job position that I was absolutely qualified to do – yet I was told the company was ‘going to go in a different direction,’” one person commented on the Ageism in America blog of the International Longevity Center. “At first I wanted to call to inquire what I might do differently in a future job interview elsewhere, but I had a very strong sense that they would not be honest with me.”

In response to such incidents, many career advisers suggest that older job-seekers disguise their age. The Associated Press reported that Allen Kellum of McLean, Va., deleted his college graduation date from his resume and stripped out some early job experiences. Last month, dozens of people showed up at an Arlington, Va., spa that promised free Botox treatments for unemployed people.

The marketing campaign for “Just for Men,” the hair-coloring product, is built around the assumption that gray hair puts older job applicants at a disadvantage. One advertisement offers this testimonial from a Kevin R. in Iowa: “After nearly 8 months out of work, a friend advised me to use Just for Men. I did and landed a position on the very next interview.”

But hiding your age often means hiding your experience as well. A different approach may be to explicitly embark on an encore career that puts your experience to work for the greater good and makes your age an asset, not a liability.

For example, Velma Simpson’s many years of working as a “social worker who just happened to sell insurance” led to a government position working on homelessness. And Gail McGovern’s track record in management with AT&T Corporation and Fidelity Investments made her the top choice to become president and CEO of the American Red Cross.

“Encore-ready” employers, valuing an intergenerational workforce, can create a variety of roles that take advantage of employees’ strengths, rather than forcing all workers into the same mold. Encore-ready employees, cognizant of the concerns of many employers, can be clear about their aspirations and salary expectations (and why they may be different than those they had earlier in their career) and be ready with thoughtful answers to questions about whether they are “overqualified” or, conversely, not up to speed technologically.

What are your ideas for reducing ageism in the job market by making age an asset? Take our survey.