"A multi-cultural workplace"

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Don't you realise that you have just 'proved' exactly why crap like this still exists in recruitment? If people like you weren't so obtuse as to make a ridiculous, sweeping generalisation as 'all women who work in recruitment are intolerant and ignorant', then we'd be a little bit further down the line to not needing any of the legislation, recruitment practices and political correctness you profess to abhor so much?

To paraphrase you, what if you'd said "every time I work with a black man I find him to be lazy and untrustworthy"? Would you consider that to be OK? Of course you bloody wouldn't - so stop posting tripe.

 

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I wrote it only about my situation, not in general, and I wasn't trying to cause some stereotypes
I was looking for a better job for about 1,5 year, sent hundreds of cvs, sometimes my profile matched exactly the job requirements (experience etc), but I was getting answers only from men, that's why I wrote about ignorance. and conversation with woman from agency proved it, they think that I can't speak English and don't even bother about answering, well somehow I sent cv and covering letter in English.

difficult situation on the job market is another matter, and I bet they had few people that matched the description

 

Here's a thought for you.
How many women are employed as recruitment consultants compared to men?

 

most of them are woman in my area

 

Mariusz. Ever thought that one of the reasons you might not have been able to get a job here could just be the enormous chip on your shoulder weighing you down? You simply cannot have an attitude like you have and be successful in the workplace. Your sweeping generalisation about women in the recruitment industry is inaccurate, petulant and childish. Imagine if I said that - because of the two Polish blokes who have been to my house in the past three years to fix problems with my plumbing and botched them both times - that ALL Polish tradesmen were useless crooks. Qualifying it with an 'in my experience' rider doesn't disguise the statement for what it really is - prejudicial nonsense.

Believe you me - if I managed you and you said something like that about, for instance, the HR department, you wouldn't last very long. Once again, I'll refer you to my earlier point - that attitudes and statements like yours are WHY there are dozens of paper-pushers in offices all round the world dedicated to enforcing seemingly petty legislation aimed at equality in the workplace. If you weren't so immature as to profess your ignorance in these areas by broadcasting it to the world, then there wouldn't be any need or justification for them to exist at all.

Oh and - for the record - most recruitment consultants are s**t at their job. it makes precisely zero difference what sex they are. I've had just as many s***ty experiences with male recruiters as with female ones.

 

I get your point mate, maybe I pushed it too far - sorry

anyway I don't act like that during/before/after interview, and I know what I can say and what I can't say, I am polite all the time, no matter what the "score" is, so my attitude had nothing to do with it.

 

Mariusz...

 

I have actually turned down jobs because from the line of questioning there was in the interview, they were only interested that I was black and not because of my ability to do the job. For all I know I could be further along in my IT career if I had taken the position, but who knows. I have no regrets whatsoever.

I remember one interview (Senior IT Engineer at a scrap metal company), and the MD basically said that some of the workforce would find it hard having a 'coloured' person as their supervisor (coloured, that cracks me up even to this day . He might as well have just called me a jungle bunny!!).

But with all this I am always polite, but quite frank when pushed about the colour of my skin. In my head it shouldn't matter, and I was brought up like this also. It's just so unfortunate that it does .

 

If he HAD to say something, would you have rather it been "A Black guy" instead of "someone coloured". (ideally, it wouldn't of been said full stop as it's irrelevant what colour someone's skin is) but if it was going to be said regardless, what would have been acceptable? I suppose "someone of a different race" could of been a bit less offensive.

 

I would've rather him say 'Black' or 'ethnic minority'. But as you say, it shouldn't have even come up as it's irrelevant. And after that came up, it put me on edge and felt quite uncomfortable for the rest of the interview. Had this interview been done 10+ years ago when I was 20 years old, I'd have got quite angry and probably would have got myself in bother!

One thing that I remember about it is that the interview itself took over 2 hours (longest interview I've ever had) and felt mentally drained after it. And it made me think for a while that is it worth me moving up the ladder to a supervisor/management position if this could be the attitude of some of my colleagues that could potentially work under me. Very glad these types of people are in the minority though.

 

Having dated a black girl for six years, she always found it offensive when people called her 'coloured'. Not being black myself, there's no way I can comment with any authority either way, but the word 'coloured', to me, conjures up images of Love Thy Neighbour and Bernard Manning. I certainly wouldn't call any of my mates 'coloured' (be they white, black, asian, or martian!)

 

Love Thy Neighbour . Patrick from EastEnders was in that wasn't he (Rudolph Walker)? A bit before my time, but my mum and dad told me all about that TV show when I was a kid.

But yeah, it's a word I find offensive. But in the same token if someone is not trying to use the word to be offensive towards me, I will politely correct them. No point blowing your top at people if there was genuine innocence behind it. We're all brought up differently (no better, no worse, just different), so certain traits are learned from a young age.

If they're using that word or any other slang word to take the p*** with me, well.......that's a different story altogether.

 

What you could do if you get a question like this is to black yourself on use a wheel chair and maybe even make it seem like you have lost an arm in the latest war or something and maybe mock up a Sun newspaper article calling you a hero, this way you will defiently get the job and probably won’t even need to show them your CV.

 

Yes Rudolph Walker played one of the neighbours. It was a very funny and popular show and i believe, before the days of political correctness gone mad, did manage to desensitise a lot of the racial tension that was prevalent at the time.

 

Some interesting points here, but I dont think they will help you get the job.

1st point is do NOT treat everybody equally. Its about treating everybody how they wish to be treated.

Make sure each person in the workplace understands why somebody has different needs and that the organisation mite have to make reasonable adjustments to meet those needs. To make sure that there is a positive policy within the organisation about E&D and that it can be discussed so all staff understand the issues and the differences between people and training is also provided to all staff. Dont forget its not just about who works in the organisation but also who the organisation works, for, to and with.

Its to understand why something such as positive about disabled is important, because it shows people that the organisation is making the effort to include people.

You can mention that your personal belief is that each person should be employed purely on merit for that persons own understanding of the role and also for the good of the organisation, but sadly as a nation there are still lots of examples of discrimination, and to set targets allows an organisation to look at itself and question why if women make around 50% of the population are there only men at the executive level.

Organisations can also include E&D into many aspects of their processes, such as for any new project to include a statement relating to an E&D impact assessment.

I have worked in local government for many years, and this question is a bit of a minefield. Sorry for the long answer. And I think I need to try and get back to being a geek, and less management bs