AIBU to have judged and not interview because of ...

[JumpingThroughHoops]

....emails addresses?

Shoot me but XXX-Bitch_troll@etc and XXX-smokes-dope@etc goes straight in the shred pile.

If you are too stupid to set up a regular email account for job applications then you are too stupid to employ. I find it more frightening they could possibly be on a jury or vote.

In total agreement Eldritch & GetOrf - if I ever get to a position where I'll be employing people, I will definitely use the 'see who is polite to the receptionist & HR' method. :)

GetOrf seriously you never write? Not even on little post-its? I guess handwriting isn't an issue if you're only writing for yourself, but if you're working with others I still think its important to have legible handwriting :)

And incidently, I used to work for someone who would only interview people who lived in the right postcode. (I didn't count as I was a temp ). And he wouldn't interview young women or women of childbearing age - he was so blatant he'd write down on their CVs that that was the reason too. He was a total arsehole though.

I used to work for someone who would only interview people who lived in the right postcode

I worked for someone who would check for relations in Who's Who before interviewing nini.

There were some very posh people indeed in my department. Sadly for him my part of the company was closed down and I was imposed on him by HR. He'd wince every time I opened my mouth. Obviously that made me speak like a cross between Eliza Doolittle and Dick Van Dyke in his presence

No, never write anything seriously, type everything and save it. Messages for colleagues I just email.

If I ever have to pass a note in a meeting I make an effort to write decently though, so someone can read it.

Bonniebumble and Poopoo - really sorry if it sounds harsh but the type of person who worked and fitted in at the firm simply wouldn't have had those names. I was recruiting for them, I understood what they wanted, that's why they employed me.

Any comedy email addresses would have consigned a CV to the nearest bin.

If you think that sounds snobby, you would be horrified by a couple of people I knew who worked at smart City agencies. CV's that came into them would be marked up with acronyms - one of which was "MHARA??" which stood for May Have a Regional Accent.

Finding out the name of the HR Manager so that you can address your letter to them is utterly basic. Egotistical???? Are you serious - we learned that at school.

There was a discrimination case years ago based on postcode selection. The employer was discriminating against candidates who lived in a less salubrious part of Liverpool. An applicant brought a case against the Company on the grounds of indirect race discrimination. The claim was successful. This particular area in Liverpool had a higher percentage of black residents, the applicant successfully argued that the Company were indirectly discriminating against black people by automatically disregarding candidates from that postcode.

Leaving race issues aside it really saddens me and makes me angry that such blatant snobbery is still commonplace.

the type of person who worked and fitted in at the firm simply wouldn't have had those names.

What a load of bollocks, is all I have to say about that!

Schlumberger. Your response is laughable. Are you telling me there was a list of unacceptable names? Really?

You do realise that not only were your employer leaving themselves wide open for claims for race discrimination but that you could also potentially be found liable.

I have known of cases where cases have been brought against individual recruitment consultants as well as the Company. Do you think the Company would have stood by you if such a claim arose? It's more likely that they would push all the blame on you and deny condoning such a practice. You could then find yourself out of a job and having to defend a claim of race discrimination at an employment tribunal.

Bonniebumble and Poopoo - really sorry if it sounds harsh but the type of person who worked and fitted in at the firm simply wouldn't have had those names. I was recruiting for them, I understood what they wanted, that's why they employed me.

That's bullshit. You can't always tell by a name what sort of person or class its attached to. I have a friend who named her child jordan, long before the well known Jordan came along. I would be horrible for her to be discriminated against because of it.

It is discrimination and snobbery no matter how you justify it. What a lovely job you had, keeping the commoners away!

YANBU at all. So easy to set up a sensible email address for yourself, there are no excuses. Also, with spellcheckers there are no excuses for poor spelling on applications either. It's just basic common sense!

I do feel terribly sorry for a boy I knew of (actually he must be about 18 now) whose actual name is 'Dazzy-boy'. We assumed it was a nickname but no, that's the name his mother gave him at birth. I kid you not. I hope he's changed his name by deed poll or has a sensible middle name he can go by, because otherwise, most employers will assume he's put a daft nickname on his CV.

So a person perceived to be working class wouldn't fit in, Schlumberger?

Perhaps the hand written letters are so employers can see how well you really spell when not using spell check.

Also its necessary for some jobs, like teachers.

The postcode guy I worked for was interesting - he lived in a fairly nice town but wasn't posh, he just thought he was. So the 'right' postcode was anybody with the same postcode as him! That and the anti-woman thing made me very .

Like you limited, I used to deliberately go all 'rough accented' when he was in the room just to spite him .

Yellowraincoat - that's correct.

Oh I see.

Well, that makes sense, considering working class people are all stupid and can't conduct themselves correctly, I guess.

Judging by the fact you were recruiting for this firm, weren't they all technically working class?

I have a weird name, a weird accent, went to a weird uni and almost certainly don't live in the "right" postcode. Did I mention I'm an immigrant from a country most people here can't place on the map.

I'm beating recruiters away with a stick.

Get skills for which there is a demand is my best advice.

And for the ones like Schlumberger: companies deserve the people they hire.

(I work in HR, btw.)

We had 19 application forms for an internal position.

Even though the job spec on the internal noticeboard said to use the application form, two people gave us paper CV's.

Those went in the bin as they obviously couldn't read a simple instruction (or were so arrogant they felt the instruction didn't apply to them)

Someone else didn't format their input to the (electronic) application form properly so the info entered went in as just one long line that disappeared off the side of the page. They obviously hadn't checked it before sending, and as it was going to require some work from me to format it to see the inputs, it went in the bin also.

Oh and about 5 others had obvious spelling/grammar/punctuation issues - bin again.

Moral - get a pedant to read your documentation before sending it!

Not holding a brief for schlumberger but many companies and educational establishments do hold those views and it is virtually impossible to catch them out on it.

My Who'sWho boss wasn't unique, sadly.

I think it's a form of insecurity at the sight of the Barbarians at the gates - or in other words, access to a decent education that used to be reserved for people like him and his clique.

We ask for fluent written and spoken English and often CVs will say things like:

"Laguages: I spoke fluent Englesh" Now, this may be spelling errors rather than language issues but still...

Also, I want to say to people that when Word puts a red wriggly line under a word, they should check if it's right.

A large number of graduates from Oxford Brookes University appear not to realise that there is an "e" in Brookes. Those go straight in the bin.

Yep, the office was full of people from Who's Who. Old Etonians made up at least 50%. My boss was a Lord. These are the facts.

I once received a CV from a South African professional which included a photo of him sat astride a lion he had just shot!

I know it's hard to understand, Schlumberger, but working class people ARE able to talk to posh people.

We doff our caps, obvs, but some of us are able to not cry with fear when we encounter more than 3 pieces of cutlery.

The people I worked with were very exercised that State school pupils were being admitted to what they regarded as their universities.

No matter how much I tried to soothe them that Gonville and Caius was unlikely to be overwhelmed by comprehensive school oiks they still fretted. It was distressing to witness

One woman was incensed that her nephew with First in Classics from Trinity or somesuch establishment failed to land a trainee position with Goldman Sachs.

I tried to say that as he'd have hated it there because he obviously had loftier thoughts than Mammon but the poor woman was inconsolable.

Yellowraincoat - you sound all cross. Please don't shoot the messenger, I was talking about the type of person who fitted in at a Mayfair firm full of "frightfullys" where I worked about 20 years ago.

You're not the messenger though. You were complicit in this policy.

Yes, I am all cross.