Job Application: 'Sexual Orientation'

-Colli$ion- · 22 Aug 2007 at 23:20

Positive discrimination lol what a joke, not very positive for the group it’s discriminating against is it. When I apply for a job I will have to remember about the sexual status and ethnic background, if they think I m going to supply information for them to use against me, there’s another joke.

I guess only large organizations would implement 'positive discrimination'? is there any research to back the conclusion that diversity in the workforce is more beneficial or anything? or just PC?

Angilion · 23 Aug 2007 at 00:20

Diversity is beneficial, but this isn't about diversity. It's a misnomer. It's just about the few characteristics that are politicised. Relevant diversity would be, for example, having some people with good face-to-face customer skills, some people with a lot of patience for phone tech support, some people with financial/business acumen for setting prices, some people with employee management skills for supervisory roles, some people with planning/business acumen for overall policy-making...etc.

All discrimination is both positive and negative - positive for people who like that sort of discrimination, negative for those who don't. "Positive discrimination" is a mealy-mouthed euphemism for the benefit of people who aren't honest about their prejudices, IMNSHO.

GarethDW · 23 Aug 2007 at 00:50

basmic said:
There are some types of shops, where a gay male would go down well the customers, and produce higher sales.

If the salesman is going down on customers I'm sure that would generate a lot of sales with some people!

allllec · 23 Aug 2007 at 03:05

Out of roughly 25 job applications i've done over the last 8 weeks only one has got back to me for an interview.

I said i was a bi-sexual jew on that job app form and none of the others. and i am NOT joking =/

i suspect its just because it was a telephone interview there for they can interview pretty much everyone cheaply and easily, but still wouldn't shock me to find out if it had something to do with me saying that.. I'd love it if i could prove it. sue em

Tom|Nbk · 23 Aug 2007 at 03:18

All part of "Equal Oppourtunities"

Goberpiles316 · 23 Aug 2007 at 09:30

Well as I said earlier normal practice is to remove this page before it makes it way to the manager, when I read an application form I have no idea of age, colour, sexual oritation, we are told that you have a disablity but not what that disablity is, I have never had anyone come up to my from HR and say be careful this person is gay, because it wouldnt matter.

allllec · 23 Aug 2007 at 10:04

That's comforting, i was under the impression everyone would see it but they had to "ignore" it.

Do you reckon most other places operate as you do? e.g. the manager doesnt see those details?

platypus · 23 Aug 2007 at 10:07

I thought it was illegal to ask if someone is homosexual?

Goberpiles316 · 23 Aug 2007 at 10:11

I would hope that everyone does because your sexual prefence or colour, religion has no effect on you as a person, or they should be concerned with is "can you do the job"

PsiFox · 23 Aug 2007 at 10:46

[TW]Fox said:
Absolute rubbish.

Not according to the people I know in local government.
I was speaking to some earlier this week and they were quite voal about what really goes on (off the record of course)

Was slightly tongue in cheek however , you don't need to be from outer mongolia, anywhere 3rd world will do

Bloodknut · 23 Aug 2007 at 10:54

Put down necrophiliac, into beastiality and sadism, but youd be flogging a dead horse

I'll get me coat

FishFluff · 23 Aug 2007 at 12:14

PsiFox said:
Not according to the people I know in local government.
I was speaking to some earlier this week and they were quite voal about what really goes on (off the record of course)

Was slightly tongue in cheek however , you don't need to be from outer mongolia, anywhere 3rd world will do

Right, I'm going to say this once and then leave the thread as frankly you and everyone else will ignore it anyway but I'm bored during my lunchbreak.

I work in local government and have recruited for several posts this year. An applicants gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation does not give them any preferential treatment. We don't have to recruit x% asian people or x% lesbians. We collect statistics about those things, but they have no bearing on the recruitment process.

Digital Punk · 23 Aug 2007 at 12:46

FishFluff said:
I work in local government and have recruited for several posts this year. An applicants gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation does not give them any preferential treatment. We don't have to recruit x% asian people or x% lesbians. We collect statistics about those things, but they have no bearing on the recruitment process.

Well, my whole argument was why do they need to know someone's sexual orientation in the first place?
To me its uneccesary and invasive of someone's private life.

Anyway, I left that part of the form blank, and wrote "I consider this question an invasion of privacy" underneath.

Lets see if I get an interview.

FishFluff · 23 Aug 2007 at 13:15

Digital Punk said:
Well, my whole argument was why do they need to know someone's sexual orientation in the first place?
To me its uneccesary and invasive of someone's private life.

Anyway, I left that part of the form blank, and wrote "I consider this question an invasion of privacy" underneath.

Lets see if I get an interview.

I'm not sure about the job you applied for, but the forms we send out have a big bit of text at the top saying that the form is optional. Personally I always leave them blank as like you, I don't think it's necessary in the slightest.

Volcs · 23 Aug 2007 at 13:17

Digital Punk said:
Well, my whole argument was why do they need to know someone's sexual orientation in the first place?
To me its uneccesary and invasive of someone's private life.

Anyway, I left that part of the form blank, and wrote "I consider this question an invasion of privacy" underneath.

Lets see if I get an interview.

Way to get off on the right foot.

lordrobs · 23 Aug 2007 at 13:19

Digital Punk said:
So I was filling out an application form for an IT Netwoking job, when something just annoyed me.

In the section marked 'equality and diversity' it has all the usual ethnic origin stuff, then a part marked Sexual orientation.

Are you: Hetrosexual, Gay man, Lesbian, Bi-sexual

Well excuse me but W-T-F has it got to do with you?
I can't see how that is in any way relevant to the job application or why they would want to know.

Is this normal nowadays?

I'm tempted to tick the Lesbian box (pardon the pun) and see if it guarantees me an interview!

Its just so they can prove that they are employing their quota of gays, blacks and disabled as part of the UK's growing obsession with "equal" opportunity.

Just god help you if you are white, straight and healthy if they've got quota's to fill.

Sorry, just a personal hate of mine. Don't get me wrong I'm all for equal opportunity. I'm strongly against supposed equal opportunity via the process of filling quota's.

Volcs · 23 Aug 2007 at 13:47

lordrobs said:
Its just so they can prove that they are employing their quota of gays, blacks and disabled as part of the UK's growing obsession with "equal" opportunity.

Just god help you if you are white, straight and healthy if they've got quota's to fill.

Sorry, just a personal hate of mine. Don't get me wrong I'm all for equal opportunity. I'm strongly against supposed equal opportunity via the process of filling quota's.

Did you read the thread at all? It's nothing to do with quotas.

[TW]Fox · 23 Aug 2007 at 13:48

PsiFox said:
Not according to the people I know in local government.

Well I've just finished working in the public sector for a year and saw absolutely no evidence of this.

Angilion · 23 Aug 2007 at 13:50

FishFluff said:
Right, I'm going to say this once and then leave the thread as frankly you and everyone else will ignore it anyway but I'm bored during my lunchbreak.

I work in local government and have recruited for several posts this year. An applicants gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation does not give them any preferential treatment. We don't have to recruit x% asian people or x% lesbians. We collect statistics about those things, but they have no bearing on the recruitment process.

Then collecting this data is pointless.

I prefer waste to irrational discrimination, of course, so your post is good news. I consider it plausible, though a little optimistic. The only way to be sure that "they have no bearing on the recruitment process" is to make sure that the people responsible for recruitment don't know them.

iCraig · 23 Aug 2007 at 13:55

Digital Punk said:
Anyway, I left that part of the form blank, and wrote "I consider this question an invasion of privacy" underneath.

There's usually a "Prefer not to disclose" box if you're really high-strung about it.

Also, did the form really say: Gay man | lesbian.

Surely they'd just put homosexual like they did heterosexual? After all they didn't put straight man, straight woman did they?