Fighting Discrimination at Job Interview

eagleoftheeast on 09/07/2017 - 15:35
Last edited 09/07/2017 - 17:36 by 1 other user

I was wondering is there anything you can do if a interviewer/company/business discriminates against you during a Job Interview?

I know this could go on the larger topic of general discrimination and most cases it just hearsay but in my 6 years of working and job interviews, I have encountered some direct examples,

Examples 1
Women in their 30s/ nearing 30s not being hired and directly asked about having children and their priorities.
Now, I have encounter two cases of this, one by a colleague and one being interviewed before me.
Both interviewers insisted that being women in the 30s would fall under their natural biological clock and quit the workforce soon.
(Yes, I should have punched the interviewer during my turn)

Example 2
Age discrimination- This is definitely some interpretation, as youth often stereotyped for not having enough experience.
Even direct examples like being interviewed on the phone hours beforehand but after meeting me in in person (Less than 5 seconds) being greeted with the response "we don't hire young people", also I have heard rants that "Young people we hired before are unreliable, don't work hard, etc"
One person didn't believe my resume or experience as I looked too young
I have also seen older workers experience age discrimination, being told they fossils or should have moved to higher ranking at their age.

All of the occasions happened in small businesses/companies and I have reported them to the fair work ombudsman.
It seems that they get get away with the crime with no consequences

Note:I am currently employed, with 2.5 years of my contract left so I am lucky but various friends & family, entering the workforce would like to know what to do.

Thank you,

I think I should expand on my co-worker example for clarification:
She doesn't intend to have kids now or possibly ever, which she told the interviewer,
Which was responded that she didn't have a choice due to her biological clock.

Education & Work

Comments

  • Baysew on 09/07/2017 - 15:42
    +9

    I was wondering is there anything you can do if a interviewer/company/business discriminates against you during a Job Interview?

    Don't work for them.

    • mskeggs on 09/07/2017 - 18:47
      +1

      This is good advice.
      You can assume that an employer who is discriminatory will be less successful than one who isn't (they miss out on the wage savings of hiring women, for example! And there is research that shows a correlation between diversity and corporate financial performance).
      You can't effectively punish these employers except to name and shame, boycott their products, etc without it becoming a huge burden - just let time do the work and they will be gone soon enough.
      Report them to Fairwork if it makes you feel better, but it is hard for them to do much.

  • t_c on 09/07/2017 - 16:03
    +7

    Cant say I have ever had to hire a employee but I would imagine it's not unlike picking stocks, at the end of the day you want to invest your money in the employee that you will be able to extract the maximum value from and get the greatest return.

    • D C on 09/07/2017 - 21:35
      +3

      The process generally works in that you get 100 resumes, you weed out the junk (typo, idiots, spanners, no experience or qualifications etc) down to 20.

      You read the remaining 20 and select 10 for an interview.

      The interview shakes out the liars and exaggerators etc (well, hopefully) leaving you with 5 good candidates.

      You really can't pick the best candidate from them, no-one can, so at that point you really should pick one at random.

      Yes, a bit like stocks.

      Unfortunately what happens is they go for 'best cultural fit', meaning the company of 20 year old bro's is not going to hire the Muslin mother of 2 wearing full niqab, even though she may turn out to be the best hire they ever had. Admittedly she may not be happy there, but as @mskeggs points out above companies like that are idiots.

      • GaryQ on 10/07/2017 - 11:10
        +6

        Don't forget splitting the pile of resumes in two and then discarding half of them - because you don't want to hire someone that unlucky

        • D C on 11/07/2017 - 10:56

          How do you think you get down to 100 resumes?

          That's always been my favourite resume anecdote though.

  • [Deactivated] on 09/07/2017 - 16:23
    +2

    some people are just genuinely nasty and I wouldn't bother trying to change them for the better but spend your energy making your own life better.

  • TheBilly on 09/07/2017 - 16:23
    +1

    Just tell them what they want to hear? its not hard.

    Also reporting to the fair work ombudsman for not hiring you or someone else? Im not sure how ombudsmans work, but Im curious what you would do if you did win the case and the ombudsman granted in your favour… Would you start working there?

    Best advice you can give your family and friends is understand and work with the culture or social dynamic of the environment. I.e. if you are a 30 year old woman planning to have a child now but insist on working with bankers and hedge fund managers that live/work a 70 hour week and then party to get business after work etc .. you dont understand the culture or social dynamic.

  • John Kimble on 09/07/2017 - 16:34
    -1

    Could you record the secretly record the interview? Or is that illegal?

    • D C on 09/07/2017 - 21:55

      Varies by state.

      Not legal in NSW, you can only record if everyone agrees to it. However, you can record to protect yourself if something illegal is happening, as in this case.

      Ask a lawyer first.

  • gimli on 09/07/2017 - 16:38

    Women in their 30s/ nearing 30s not being hired and directly asked about having children and their priorities.

    I find this a tricky one. Don't get me wrong I think if the employer discriminated based on this it is wrong. But I think we should be working towards a society where people can say hey I might be having a kid so will need time of in advance so employers can plan ahead. I think this requires support from government for small business or for mothers so that they can take time off and small business can find someone else to fill the void.

  • Cluster on 09/07/2017 - 17:12
    +13

    Discrimination against women aged between 30 and about 40 is quite common. Employers know they can't directly ask if the woman is planning to start a family soon, but they all want to know anyway. One employer I worked for just flat out didn't hire women in that age group anyway. It's not written down as 'policy' anywhere, so is virtually impossible to police.

    Age discrimination works the other way too. I've been in workplaces (all IT related) where management really didn't want anyone over 30 working there. The reason is 'old' people have different priorities (families, a healthy sense of a work/life balance, etc) and can't be bribed with free pizza Fridays and a go karting session once every few months to work dozens of hours of unpaid work. Young people in IT often think they're heroes for putting in 60 hour weeks while being paid for 40. And that's before crunch time.

    One workplace had a three day non stop death march. People didn't go home for 3 days. Sleep? Forbidden. One employee had a minor car crash on the way home after that. A 40 year old would tell the employer to shove it. A 20 year old thinks they are being heroic.

  • whooah1979 on 09/07/2017 - 17:25
    -1

    Examples 1
    Women in their 30s/ nearing 30s

    they weren't wrong. this age is considered ripe for having a baby.
    http://www.womenshealthandfitness.com.au/health-beauty/healt…

    Meanwhile, he explains, medically, the best age to get pregnant is "between the ages of about 20 and 35". Prof Bill Ledger.

  • Diji1 on 09/07/2017 - 17:28
    +10

    The process of choosing an applicant for a job involves discrimination.

  • airal3rt on 09/07/2017 - 18:40

    Sounds like an employer is trying to find an employee that will be an ideal fit for their business, i.e. not going on leave to start a family in the near future.

  • oscargamer on 09/07/2017 - 20:13
    +1

    got to say, that times, they are a changing

    there seems to be a very prominent sway towards employing females over males

    so if you are losing out to males, you are probably significantly not as good

    IMO

  • airzone on 09/07/2017 - 20:36
    +1

    Most employers will have enough tact not to bring up pregnancy and related areas of discrimination in the interview. They just simply not employ you, stating "poor cultural fit" or "too little / too much experience" or something else along those lines.

  • chumlee on 09/07/2017 - 20:44
    +2

    I have spent most of my working life employed by national/multinationals but did spend 6 months with a small business and will never again work for a small business again if I can help it as they spend all their time sweating the small stuff like maternity leave and who's taking the pens from stationary cupboard

  • try2bhelpful on 09/07/2017 - 21:48

    When I started my first job with a major company they manager interviewing me asked if I was going to have kids, I said I wasn't interested and he said "good, he didn't like women abandoning their children in the home". I've never had children and have worked in the IT industry for nearly 30 years, I have always had glowing reviews from my managers and my colleagues consider me a "go to" person. Loyalty in either direction is a thing of the past.

  • [Deactivated] on 10/07/2017 - 08:12
    +1

    It's free market capatilism and job interviews are a process of discrimination to weed out the disabled , old , inexperienced , lazy , ect , looking for the perfect candidate that doesn't actually exist , and in the end they settle for a someone they think will fit into their team.
    If you think that's discriminating you should try dating sober
    And no ombadsman to go crying to either , unless you count your mum

  • Brendanonymous on 10/07/2017 - 09:45
    +1

    Sure; there are some really discriminatory people out there, but often I find that these things are said and done from ignorance or a lack of training - people aren't aware of what they legally can/can't ask in an interview, or how to approach these situations. I was thrown into interviewing without training on these things myself and learned them later. I'm still not an expert but here's what I know…

    An employer can't/shouldn't directly ask you how old you are in an interview. They will need your birthdate for payroll purposes, but don't give it to them until you're hired unless you have to (eg. Not on your resume).

    They also can't/shouldn't ask direct questions about your family plans or family situation. If you have told them you have kids, they can ask something like "how do you plan to manage a busy work life with your other commitments" but not a lot else.

    My advice would be to respectfully decline to answer any questions that you feel are discriminatory based on the legislation in the Equal Opportunities Act. "I'm sorry, I don't feel like I can answer that question as it conflicts with the anti-discriminatory legislation in the Equal Opportunities Act. What other questions can I answer for you?"

    Don't be rude or aggressive because it may not be that person's fault that they don't know what they can or can't ask. If they're a good employer/manager, they'll know they've overstepped a line, educate themselves after the interview and not consider it in their hiring decision. If they're not a good employer… well do you really want to work for them anyway?

    • woz on 10/07/2017 - 12:38

      "My advice would be to respectfully decline to answer any questions that you feel are discriminatory based on the legislation in the Equal Opportunities Act."

      One whiff of 'attitude' and that's one application that's not proceeding any further. Of course it's not fair, but people have to live and work in the real world. The money has to come from somewhere - why shouldn't employers have a reasonable expectation that their investment will be worthwhile?

      • Brendanonymous on 11/07/2017 - 09:47

        I can understand that concern, but we live in a world today where employers and job seekers are being considered more equal - it's not a matter of a candidate needing to jump when the potential employer says jump, or needing to kneel at the feet of the mighty employer. Good managers know that talent is their greatest asset and will be respectful throughout the process.

        I guess if they're not the type of employer that is mindful of their legal and ethical obligations then they might take this as "attitude" - but I feel if you phrase it respectfully as I suggested, it's not so bad. Answering discriminative questions only contributes to making it "okay" to ask them, so I'm not sure how else you could respond.

  • kelkel108 on 10/07/2017 - 11:06
    +1

    My legal name is chinese, and after I graduated, I would not even get a call back after I apply.
    Then I decided to change my name on my resume to an English name with my chinese name behind, and I still won't get any calls back.
    Then I decided to note that I am an Australian citizen, after that things looked much better. I started getting calls back 4/10 applications.

    Does this count as discrimination? Do you guys note that you are an Australian citizen in your resume?

    • Love a bargain on 10/07/2017 - 13:16
      +1

      One theory on why people with non-English names on their resume gets less call back simply because the person doing the hiring can't pronounce their names/ afraid of pronouncing their names wrong. So by using an English name, you make life easier for the recruiter.

      The speaker at a career seminar when I was in uni told the audience that if your name sounds any thing but Anglo-Saxons/Australian, it's advisable to state your immigration status in your resume to avoid being screened out on the presumption that you might be an international student & require sponsorship. (Not sure if that's also the case for experienced hire or not.)

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