If looks could kill your employment opportunities

by Sarah

A survey by an employment service provider (not us) has found that 88% of the 2,266 employers surveyed had at some stage given the job to the most attractive candidate! A similar percentage stated that appearance could affect their decision to offer the job. Whilst ensuring that those who are being interviewed for a office position have turned up dressed appropriately, this approach could land employers in hot water. 

This attitude is quite suprising given the anti-discrimination legilsation in place.  A person’s looks could be based on their race or gender which would of course be discriminatory.  Giving a young female the job for her “sex appeal” over a male applicant could amount to sex discrimination and not choosing the older candidate could be discriminatory on the grounds of age.

When I was applying for training contracts a lot of the City firms asked for a passport photo with the application form.  What is that about, if this is not selecting a prospective candidate on looks? Does this still go on?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 at 6:04 pm and is filed under Age Discrimination, Religion or Belief Discrimination, Sex/Race Discrimination. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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