these experiences were mostly > 10 years ago, and since working for myself, it's largely a non-issue. I posted here not so much to complain/whine as much as to add (yet) another anecdote about ageism. Visual impressions do count on first meetings (well, all the time), and there's often little or nothing you can do about them (skin color, eye color, height, etc), and yes, a certain degree of "just get on with it and present yourself with confidence" is needed. There's also an issue about "if a hiring manager is that shallow, you may not want to work for that company anyway", but it's easier to take that mindset when you've got savings and prospects, vs having been out of work for a year and having trouble getting past a f2f interview (after having aced phone conversations) because of your hair color or age (not happened to me - yet? - but have had a couple friends go through this already just in late 40s).