Guaranteed Interview if disabled.

Berger · 2 Jul 2007 at 15:36

Currently filling in a generic application form for a graduate level job working for a housing company. Have got most of the way through and something caught my eye.

XXXX Homes is constantly looking for ways to increase the number of people with disabilities who are employed by XXXX Homes. In order to achieve this, XXXX Homes has introduced a “Guaranteed Interview Scheme”.

This means that although we cannot guarantee you a job, we can at least guarantee an interview, providing you have declared a disability above and you have satisfied the minimum requirement (i.e. skills, experience, etc.) for the job. Therefore, prior to shortlisting, disabled applicants will be identified as such.

Smacks as slightly unfair to me!

Ghosteh · 2 Jul 2007 at 15:39

Positive Discrimination... Everything is heading that way now unfortunately.

TheDean · 2 Jul 2007 at 15:39

Berger said:
Currently filling in a generic application form for a graduate level job working for a housing company. Have got most of the way through and something caught my eye.

Smacks as slightly unfair to me!

Totally agree....but to be fair, you can play football and they can't.

ScarySquirrel · 2 Jul 2007 at 15:39

Imagine if it was the other way round. :rolleyes:

I think this is wrong.

Diesel · 2 Jul 2007 at 15:41

It is the same where I work.

Surely it would be fairer to not even mention disabilities on the application form and judge each on its merits.

[TW]Fox · 2 Jul 2007 at 15:41

TheDean said:
Totally agree....but to be fair, you can play football and they can't.

I'm sure that will be of great comfort to him when he misses out on an interview for a graduate job. I'd also be interested to know how you believe people with disabilities cannot play football. There is more to being disabled than simply being in a Wheelchair.

Berger · 2 Jul 2007 at 15:44

My applications going straight in the bin, im white, middle class, british, male and in my early 20s.

Bitter, nope.

ScarySquirrel · 2 Jul 2007 at 15:44

Yeah have you not seen blind football?

The goalkeepers can see, I don't know if they have to be slightly disable or if they are just normal. But the ball has a bell in it and the coaches stand behind the goals and shout at the players so they know where the goal is.

I think.

edit - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbMkTBiFl8c&NR=1

Dr House · 2 Jul 2007 at 15:47

Its funny my uncle is a VP in one of the big telecoms companies in the US, he has actually recruited a women simply because she is a women, apparently she is not even good at her job. We are talking about a 6 figure salary here.

Everyone seems to be looking for a black, disabled, pregnant lesbian Muslim

[TW]Fox · 2 Jul 2007 at 15:48

Paras said:
Its funny my uncle is a VP in one of the big telecoms companies in the US, he has actually recruited a women simply because she is a women, apparently she is not even good at her job. We are talking about a 6 figure salary here.

Yea, right, I'm sure he has.

Oblivious · 2 Jul 2007 at 15:52

I believe Paras going on his past posts. But it is hard to believe.

G-MAN2004 · 2 Jul 2007 at 15:53

ScarySquirrel said:
Imagine if it was the other way round.

I think this is wrong.

Same. There would be uproar if it was the other way round.

[TW]Fox · 2 Jul 2007 at 15:55

Oblivious said:
I believe Paras going on his past posts. But it is hard to believe.

It just doesn't make any sense, sorry. You don't recruit someone simply becuase she is female and you have to meet a quota - perhaps if you needed a cleaner but if you are hiring for a 6 figure salary position in a large corporate environment you don't even NEED to hire a woman who's crap at her job just becuase she is female becuase there will be NUMEROUS highly qualified and highly capable female applicants anyway.

TheDean · 2 Jul 2007 at 15:56

[TW]Fox said:
I'm sure that will be of great comfort to him when he misses out on an interview for a graduate job. I'd also be interested to know how you believe people with disabilities cannot play football. There is more to being disabled than simply being in a Wheelchair.

He'll become a professional footballer then earn 50k a week. That'll confort him

Nikias · 2 Jul 2007 at 15:56

Yes it's not fair, but it may be just. I dare say that there are quite a few disabled people who struggle to get employed—I know my disabled cousin is at the moment—and this unfairness is helping to right another inherent unfairness in life.

div0 · 2 Jul 2007 at 16:02

Not that I don't disagree with positive discrimination, but...

Berger said:
we can at least guarantee an interview, providing... you have satisfied the minimum requirement (i.e. skills, experience, etc.) for the job.

I'd have to suspect that MOST people who satisfy the minimum requirement would be in with a reasonable chance of getting an interview.

It's not like they are guaranteeing an interview to any disabled person who wants to apply for the position.

There is nothing worse than applying for jobs and getting rejected, or not even hearing back. But I don't really see this particular issue as a big deal. Guaranteeing people with disabilities an interview, is a LONG way short of "giving them a job that someone else deserves" (which is kinda what some people are implying).

Yes, I can see that it may seem like an unfair advantage - but there are many things in life that are a lot more unfair.

MeatLoaf · 2 Jul 2007 at 16:03

I filled in an application for the DWP last month and it was the same thing.

Totally unfair.

Meridian · 2 Jul 2007 at 16:08

You people who are complaining do understand the difference between "Interview" and "Employ", right? So what if the disabled are getting guaranteed interviews - it's only a problem if they are getting a guaranteed job.

M

Dr House · 2 Jul 2007 at 16:12

I don’t know if it would happen in the uk, however I think it’s probably different in America. The women in question was recruited internally, my understanding what the only reason my uncle wanted to employ her is because they are under extreme pressure from higher up to take one more women in engineering. They are apparently few and far between.

Dolph · 2 Jul 2007 at 16:12

Meridian said:
You people who are complaining do understand the difference between "Interview" and "Employ", right? So what if the disabled are getting guaranteed interviews - it's only a problem if they are getting a guaranteed job.

M

In addition, it's only truely unfair if the company is only doing a strictly limited number of interviews. If they are only doing 10 interviews, and two of those are disabled candidates under the above scheme, then there's the possibility of unfairness. If, however, they do 10 interviews plus any automatic ones, no-one has lost out due to the guaranteed interview process...