1 in 4 job seekers feel they’ve been discriminated against
November 18, 2008 by Sam NarisiPosted in: In This Week's E-Newsletter, Interviewing, Latest News & Views, Law
There are a lot of reasons people get turned down for jobs. According to new research, rejected candidates often believe illegal bias is one of them.
More than a quarter of people surveyed (27%) said they’ve been discriminated against when seeking a job or promotion, according to FindLaw.com.
The most common biases claimed were race and age. The breakdown of perceptions, by group:
- 42% of African-Americans say they’ve been discriminated against because of race
- 15% of people over 45 claim they’ve experienced age bias (so did 13% of those under 25, who aren’t protected by law), and
- 1 in 10 women say they’ve run into gender discrimination.
Of course, that doesn’t mean most companies are actually discriminating. But with the perception of discrimination so high, it’s imperative for hiring managers to be trained on how to make fair decisions and conduct interviews properly.
Avoiding comments and questions related to protected classes and keeping proper applicant and interview records can help prove hiring decisions were based on legitimate criteria.
Tags: bias, FindLaw.com, survey
November 21st, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I also recommend that recruiters be careful who they talk to outside of the company. I was interviewing for a Business Manager position that I found out about through a friend of my parents. I was one of three final applicants (the only woman) but did not get the job. While I do believe that I lacked some of the accounting background that the other candidates possessed (which I was assured during the interview process was not an issue), and would have considered that a legitimate reason for not getting hired, the reason that came back through the friend of my parents is that I wasn’t hired because they thought a man could better supervise a group of women. And this despite the fact that I supervise a team of 10 women administrative personnel and I’m frequently told that this is the best admin team our company has ever had.
November 21st, 2008 at 1:32 pm
What about reverse discrimination?
November 21st, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Not illegal but much more common: Discrimination because of weight.