Hi Everyone, I had two wonderful interviews with this company, however, I didn't get the job and this was the message I received: Sorry Johnny – feedback was for both roles. Management really liked you but the fit wasn’t there for a client-facing role – keep in mind their clients are educators, very conservative. Is it just me or did I just got discriminated? I wasn't wrapped in a rainbow flag during the interview....
Did you say anything that indicated you were gay? Like putting in activity with a GSA on your resume or something else? If so, depending on where you live, it'd be well-advised to leave it off your resume and out of interviews.
Conservative could mean in this instance dress, speech patterns, appearance, etc. (formal as opposed to casual). If you didn't do anything to indicate you were gay I'd be inclined to think of it as that given they'd be in a lot of trouble for discriminating you like that and wouldn't outright tell you (at least anyone part of HR would presumably know better than open themselves to that kind of lawsuit if that were indeed the case).
Wow. These people are dumbasses. Assuming you dressed the part for the interview, By saying "the fit wasn’t there for a client-facing role – keep in mind their clients are educators, very conservative" they are, in coded terms, saying that you weren't hired because you're gay. They could have just said "Thanks for interviewing with us, we've decided to choose another candidate that we thought would be a better fit." but they sort of shot themselves in the foot. My understanding is that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms covers discrimination based on sexual orientation. It boils down to whether you want to go after the issue or not. It probably wouldn't result in your getting the job with them, but in principle, assuming that sexual orientation is a protected class in Canada, it might be worth doing something so that others aren't discriminated against in future situations.
I think it's hard to say that you were discriminated against exactly, since the letter seems very generic and non-committal. However, potential employers will never outright tell you at first that they are discriminating, especially if it's illegal where you live, and the "their clients are...very conservative" part does give me pause, not because it necessarily indicates that they were pinpointing any specific thing about you, but that something about you was seen as unsatisfactory on a social level. Since they've already opened the door on offering some advice about the job field ("Keep in mind..."), I would follow up just to be sure - try asking them to explain the comment, from a professional development point of view if nothing else. Best case scenario, you're no worse off and you get some maybe helpful professional advice about the field (dress a certain way for interviews, or something obscure like that). Worst case scenario, you help uncover a discriminating employer and you make life a little better for lgbt people.
Well, OP said he didn't indicate he was gay. How would they know otherwise? It takes serious balls to take a shot in the dark and tell someone they're gay because of the way they act or sound or something else, which is why I'm more inclined to believe something more innocuous is at play.
It could also be racial discrimination. But, what kind of educators are they talking about? The majority of educators I've ever met are pretty liberal. And I know SO. MANY. gay teachers. In any case, if their concern is for the perception of clients, your actual sexual orientation doesn't matter at all, only what other people will think it is when they meet you. In that case, it doesn't matter if you are gay, only if you seem gay. Personally, I'm not terribly surprised that someone would make the decision on that basis, but I'm kind of shocked that they said something about it, even obliquely.
Hi everyone, I got a call from the recruiter (email her to clarify) and she responded - Conservative as in technology. "Johnny you are too non-conventional bc you know Social Media. Our clients are older folks" - Yes thats right folks, educators are older folks and young people cannot relate to them bc we have social media. Definitely a head scratcher bc I don't remember talking to them about social media during my interview lol #WTF - Well that's Fantastic! ---------- Post added 18th Jun 2012 at 07:50 PM ---------- I don't how to feel. Its crappy bc it appears I was quite close to getting an offer too (I had an interview with the President). I would think in Canada it would be less of an issue, especially in Toronto. And yes even if they do sell their products in the US, Obama just confirmed the whole same-sex marriage thing, right? Whatever. Deep breaths. You would think you should something out of this, but I really don't know what I am suppose to learn here. "Sorry try not to be yourself" (?) This is not even the banking/insurance industry (tend to be more conservative). Stay Calm and Carry On~
Well that stinks. I guess if there's anything professional to learn, it's to figure out what they want you to say before you say it? So, you should learn to read minds. And yeah, I would think Toronto wouldn't be the place to find discrimination like this, but I guess you never know. Certainly post some more if anything else turns up about this.
Attempting to turn a bad situation to a good one Hi X Person, In response to: Sorry Johnny – feedback was for both roles. Management really liked you but the fit wasn’t there for a client-facing role – keep in mind their clients are educators, very conservative. & Johnny; Thanks for the feedback – you misinterpreted what I was trying to say but I’m glad you let me know and gave me the chance to clarify. Please keep in touch, X Person I want to thank you for taking the time to clarify what you meant on the phone today. Although it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, It is possible for the word "conservative" to mean a lot of different things (I don't remember sharing any social media related content during my interviews, and I shared website related material as a SWOT analysis of this industry. The website is crucial as it is every company's "resume" to sell their service/product to prospected clients). This is by no means a personal criticism here, but I do want to stress the fact that you are the key contact personnel for X Company and figurehead of new hires. Giving a statement like this today can be interpreted as a discriminatory act in X Company recruitment and it is against the law. I want to take this experience as a learning experience for both parties and what I believe would help X Company as an organization is an in house Human Resource Coordinator. Having a business background in human resources definitely gives me an edge in improving the overall organizational structure and given all the information from the two interviews so far I can see ways to improve X Company (I checked the website and I cannot find a designated human resource staff). If there is an interest in learning more about this area and my experience in human resources I am definitely open to chat. Thank you so much again for all your help and feedback and I look forward to any possible opportunities with X Company in the future.
