to be appalled at this and to think about whether I want to work there in the long term

[hopipolla]

I've just got a new job and we are recruiting for a new member of staff and I'd collated and printed out all the applicants CVs and Cover Letters before giving them to the person who is in charge of the recruitment process. He immediately picked up half of them and put them in the bin before joking with another colleague that "unlucky people don't get hired", he then proceeded to put one in the shredder which he had had delivered that morning as he needed to "test it" apparently before laughing with the colleague again.

I'm about the whole episode but DP thinks that this sort of thing will be fairly common practice at the current time with some many people jobhunting and that I'm overreacting due to my brother who is graduating in June and so is sending a lot of CVs/applications out.

[BegoniaBampot]

Was shocked when my friend told me her husband who was a manager used to favour Catholics and often tossed the applications of Protestants in the bin. Tosser.

[Tee2072]

I work for myself now, but when I worked for a company I often screened CVs. If you get, literally, 100s for one position, there's no way to read them all.

Of course, this is why using recruiters is a good idea. They do the first screen and that cuts down the number you actually have to read yourself.

[NanettaStocker]

raganwald.posterous.com/i-dont-hire-unlucky-people
heard this one a few times.

[SPBInDisguise]

Lol
It's certainly an employers market at the moment. But I must be so disheartening to pour everything you've got into an application and have it not even read :( suppose it's an argument for using an agency tho they have their own drawbacks. No Leeds is not twenty minutes or so from Durham. No, I'm unlikely to be able to pick the kids up from the childminder by 6 if I finish work at 5. I don't care how wonderful the job is, unless it comes with a company teleported, it's just not viable.

[SPBInDisguise]

Bb now that is direct discrimination. Would be easy to prove if they keep any equality stats and he could easily find himself in the shit

[aldiwhore]

My workplace now advertises that the application process will close when the applicant number has reached 100... therefore I am guessing that number 101 onwards will probably be shredded, or put in the confidential waste after a certain time.

It's actually quite depressing. There's always that question that number 101 could have been PERFECT. Certainly no laughing matter (though to be fair I don't think it should be a solemn ritual either).

YANBU. He's a prick. Not just because of this, it's just that his attitude TO this flags him as a total prick in general.

I was jobhunting for a LONG time, and I put everything into each application with the knowledge that even if it was brilliant it still may end up in the bin, so don't waste any tears on the poor job seekers, it's a given! x (That's what I told myself to preserve my sanity and drive for 18 months anyway)

[OwnedByACockerSpaniel]

I found when I did the 400 I would sort them in to;

A) What qualifications we had expressed they needed (those that didnt have these were disgarded) This suprisingly halfed the pile, people really are desperate for jobs

B) Then I turned to their cover letter, spelling mistakes, the persona I could gather from this. Was effort applied or was it 6 sentances long.

C) then I looked at their hobbies intrests, Did somethign stand out as a red flag would they "fit in" obviously a outward BNP member was not going to cope with the diversity we had.

D) I then started to call the 100 or so left for a short informal telephone interview that they could do on thew spot or arrange a call back to prepare. This allowed me to take it to about 30. And the I interviewed them all.

I never looked at names, age, sex religeon it made no difference to me.

[SPBInDisguise]

That's what I meant aldi, couldn't remember how it was worded but have seen that on quite a few job ads

[aldiwhore]

Begonia why would anyone put their religion or any other irrelevant personal information on a job application??!

A CV isn't supposed to mention your gender, marital status, ethnicity, religion, age etc., it shouldn't matter, it doesn't matter, so it shouldn't be included.

[NynaevesSister]

My friends husband works for a blue chip company and says they do this with half of the applications they get because they literally get thousands.

[LandofTute]

Yes I see what you mean. I wouldn't want to work for someone like that either as I'm sure it wouldn't be the only time they would behave in an unethical and discriminatory way.

[LandofTute]

aldi Maybe the guy could tell by the names of people? eg. someone called Bernadette more likely to be catholic? Or where they lived if in N Ireland? Or their school (if RC or not?)

[Tee2072]

If the person lives in NI, their schools and/or address will mark their religion 9 times out of 10.

[SPBInDisguise]

Don't think it's discrimination - in fact quite the opposite! Unethical...maybe, not sure. I really think its just one aspect of it being an employers market.

[SPBInDisguise]

I had no idea it was quite that divided!
(Sheltered life)

[b4bunnies]

years ago (decades even) in a similar economic climate, i had to sift through applications and put the best ones through to my boss. we had 'rules', for example, anyone with silly handwriting (childlike, circles where there should be dots etc) their application didn't go through.

[Tee2072]

There's no way it's discrimination. He's not even reading them. So what is he discriminating against?

[Tee2072]

Very much so, even today, SPB. If someone looked at just my address, they'd assume I was Protestant.

They'd be wrong, though.

[Nagoo]

It is stupid. Who knows who was in that pile :(

[SPBInDisguise]

Is it likely to matter to that extent nagoo? It's effort vs payoff. Chances are they'll get someone who'll do the job really well. Yes, someone slightly better might have been in the shredded pile, but is it worth their time and effort to sift them out in return for the additional ability / experience of the person they hire? You may argue but they've obviously decided not.

[SPBInDisguise]

If that someone were me she'd be doing pretty wel to just figure out you lived in ni!

[BegoniaBampot]

not NI, West of Scotland. You can tell by names (Brendan Kelly - hellooo!) or the school - St Bernadettes - hellooo! And the hump on their back.

[LandofTute]

He is discrimating against people who are unlucky enough to have their CV chucked in the bin without it being looked at. They may be by far the best person for the job, but they aren't being considered along with the others through no fault of their own.

[hopipolla]

Surely it must be discrimination as he's not even considering around 60-65% of them as that was the proportion that went in the bin.