I don't think so. I'm middle-aged (not young, not old) and I've been applying to multiple levels of jobs for which I'm qualified (director, manager, lead, and IC/analyst). The last three jobs I've had have been manager and lead positions.

Not a bad idea. How do I pull a background check?

Also, ya, been applying to remote positions. All three jobs in the last two years have been remote.

I encountered this once, but it was a while ago. And usually this comes up as an issue after an interview. These days, I'm having a tough enough time just getting initial interviews.

Nope. Clean as a (clean) whistle. In fact, for the most recent go-around (the one which withdrew the offer due to the poor economy), I passed the background check without a single issue. This was confirmed by their HR. I guess they could have been lying, but I've never had a background issue before (and it didn't seem like they were lying).

Thanks. Yes, I agree the ATS systems are flooded. But I have heard from several recruiters that there are other influences causing havoc with things. The economy, politics, and demographics have come up a number of times in candid conversation.

I used to get responses much more quickly and had no problems getting interviews. Now, even for someone with my experience, it's taking a lot longer and I'm seeing many more of my applications getting ignored. Finally, to have two good companies shut me down after hiring me, both stating it was due to the bad economy, and both in quick succession, is something I've not seen before.

Used the following tools to create this visualization of my own data from the last 2 years:

Sankey-Matic

Time.graphics

Meta-chart.com