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Is it hard to get a job when your gay?

Discussion in 'Coming Out Advice' started by andrewshell11, Oct 13, 2011.

  1. andrewshell11

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    I haven't had my first job yet, but I was curious as to is it going to be difficult for me to find a job because I'm a gay male? I'm currently not out of high school yet, but when I get out of high school and finish college, would it be hard for me to get a job as, for an example, a doctor or a lawyer? What about something like Crime Scene Investigator? These are just jobs I've been looking into lately.
     
  2. Vesper

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    It should not be any more difficult. Remember that it is NOT right for employers to discriminate based on sexual orientation, gender identity, weight, height, age, race, etc. Any employer that does discriminate without a reasonable basis for doing so (BFOQs, for example) does not deserve you or anyone else they reject based on any immutable traits. Just be sure not to indicate any of the non-obvious things on your resume.

    By the way, nice career choices! I want to be a white-collar crime investigator myself.
     
    #2 Vesper, Oct 13, 2011
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2011
  3. Sethrowe

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    Whats your job outlook? What do you want to major in / do for a living? I think in certain fields people discriminate more than others even though its in the law to not do so.
     
  4. Ridiculous

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    They shouldn't discriminate, but they do: US study says gay men are less likely to be offered job interviews - PinkNews.co.uk

    Of course this study is just based on the initial job application, which should be quite easy to remain neutral on your sexual orientation.

    During the application stage, employers are just dealing with faceless individuals - the only thing they have to judge you by is the paper you sent them. And unfortunately most people see being gay as negative.

    But if you then progress to a face-to-face interview, you can probably be more open with your sexuality. An employer can now see that you aren't any different to anyone else even though you're gay, so will be less likely to make any judgements on you based on stereotypes that they have.


    But as Chouchou above said, if you are rejected for being gay just think to your self "Thank god I got out of that job before it started."
     
  5. redstormrising

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    it's not right to discriminate based on sexual orientation, but under federal law, it's also not illegal. some states have laws against it, though
     
  6. ukeye

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    It depends if they know.. Heterosexual people don't go around announcing their sexuality. Its really not any employers/anyone elses business but your own.

    In my opinion, you are best to keep your work life and personal life separate.
     
  7. andrewshell11

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    I'm not really 100% sure what I want to major in. I'm just wondering what would it be like when I decide what I want to major in. I really hope everything will go smoothly in life.
     
  8. Chip

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    Andrew, having watched the changes since the 1980s, I think by the time you're in a career, it will pretty much be a non-issue, unless you happen to try to live in the deep south or Utah or somewhere else full of bigots... and even those places, it's getting easier.

    I personally know a ton of gay doctors, lawyers, and other professionals.

    And here's a handful of very powerful people who happen to be gay or lesbian:

    Tim Cook, the new CEO of apple
    Barney Frank, powerful and infuential senator
    Anderson Cooper, CNN newscaster
    Brook Colangelo, one of Obama's senior staff
    John Cooper, director of the Sundance film festival
    Suze Orman, finance guru
    Richard Berke, national editor of NY Times
    Rich Ross, studio chief at Disney

    There are tens of thousands more.

    Now, if you want to see how far we've come in a relatively short time, see if your library has a mothballed copy of a book called "The Corporate Closet", written in the early 1980s, talking about how difficult it was to be openly gay. That's almost completely untrue today, with many large companies actively recruiting and embracing gay people. I recently saw that the Toronto Police Department is actively recruiting gay officers!

    So.... I don't think you need to worry too much. :slight_smile:
     
  9. RaeofLite

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    Personally... I would keep your sexual orientation to yourself until you're well established at a place. That's just me. Sometimes people make unfair judgements before they get to know the person.
     
  10. Gerry

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    No, it shouldn't be. There might be people who secretly are prejudice against gays and if they sense you are gay might not hire you but they cannot outright tell you that you're not hired because you're gay. It's hard to find jobs today, not just for gays. So good luck with the search. :slight_smile: And also, when you do find a job, I would keep your sexuality to yourself for a while. At least until you get the hang of things at the new workplace.
     
  11. KaotikPrincess

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    I think it depends on the job you are trying to get. If you were to want to become say a doctor or lawyer it shouldn't matter, however if you were to apply as a gym teacher or maybe a childcare worker it might be a bit more difficult. Not that it should matter, it mostly depends on what state or type of city you live in, discrimination against homosexuality in the workplace is wrong but it still happens! Chances are, you will be just fine :slight_smile:
     
  12. Jim1454

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    It won't make any difference in the world - especially if you're thinking about those professional type careers. For any job, your orientation has absolutely no bearing on whether or not you're qualified, and the employer doesn't even need to know. But by taking up a profession where your peers are likely to be equally well educated, it's unlikely that they would have any issue with you being gay.

    I've come out at work in the last couple of years, and it hasn't mattered one bit. And if I were to apply to another company, I wouldn't even mention it. You don't generally talk about your personal life during an interview.

    However, as someone else pointed out above, I'd want to make sure that I was going to work at a company that would be accepting of me for being gay. Becasue once you are hired, it would be awkward to keep it a secret from everyone there that your significant other was someone of the same sex. It just wouldn't be fun.