Isn't that Illegal?
The job hunt. Differences abound. It is common for CVs to be 2, 3, or 4 pages long for somone with 5+ years of experience. Yet in America, 2 pages can raise eyebrows for a business job. And I know, from looking at the MBA student's CVs, from the reading I've been doing about the European job hunt, and from the "Working in Finland" seminar I took in Finland, that date of birth, picture, nationality, marital status are all common information one puts on a CV here.
But I still don't buy it. It just seems wrong. Isn't it illegal?
Not on the east side of the Atlantic. I finally got it yesterday - I must conform. I've been doing some "practice interviewing" with a Dutch company. It is to help train recruiters and hiring managers, but the practice candidates, like me, also recieve feedback. I've established a rapport with one of the coaches, and she put it quite plainly to me yesterday, "You know, you really seem quite closed about your personal life. You really should consider sharing more about yourself on your CV like your date of birth and in the interview you should give more information about your family and why you've moved here."
Eesh. It just seems wrong. But I'm not in America. I'm not in America.
So I will conform. I will add my date of birth and my nationality to my CV. In the interview, I will admit that I followed my husband here so we could pursue a dream. Shall I also admit my race (Caucasian), my religion (Christian), my sexual orientation (hetero-)? I'm just not there yet.
But I still don't buy it. It just seems wrong. Isn't it illegal?
Not on the east side of the Atlantic. I finally got it yesterday - I must conform. I've been doing some "practice interviewing" with a Dutch company. It is to help train recruiters and hiring managers, but the practice candidates, like me, also recieve feedback. I've established a rapport with one of the coaches, and she put it quite plainly to me yesterday, "You know, you really seem quite closed about your personal life. You really should consider sharing more about yourself on your CV like your date of birth and in the interview you should give more information about your family and why you've moved here."
Eesh. It just seems wrong. But I'm not in America. I'm not in America.
So I will conform. I will add my date of birth and my nationality to my CV. In the interview, I will admit that I followed my husband here so we could pursue a dream. Shall I also admit my race (Caucasian), my religion (Christian), my sexual orientation (hetero-)? I'm just not there yet.
posted by Beth at 10:24 AM
3 Comments:
Bizarre! I simply can't imagine this! It seems so wrong - not only or just illegal, but uncouth and silly and snoopy! Should you figure out some personal details that tell them a little about you, but not too much? And how do employers avoid discriminating?
Maybe only in the U.S. is discrimination not OK. And in other "lands" you may also need to "know" someone and also "pay" for your job! This is the "real world".
What's with all the "shock quotes", Jim?
Some countries regulate stuff like that pretty carefully - like the U.S. In which case prospective employers sometimes try to get around directly asking such questions.
In other countries people may have no problem asking you even more personal stuff, like "you're not going to go get pregnant, are you?!?!"
And of course, in US academia, the latter happens as well.
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