Employers should not see candidates' names when deciding who to interview

[RoseDeGambrinus]

This would be tricky for very small businesses, but for everyone else, why is it not regular practice to have a separate page of the application form with personal details on which is then detached (as an equal opps form often is)? Bit of a TAAT but why is a system accepted that means employers will often discriminate against those which are 'unusual' (inviting class judgements), Muslim, or even female? Obviously there could still be discrimination at interview but that first hurdle is so important.

Other than graduate schemes and specific professions ( law, academia), do employers really look at universities once looking at candidates over 30years oldish. We've been interviewing and frankly I didn't look at 10 years ago - I only looked at the last 3-5 years of employment. And I'm a management consultant in an SME.

I'm also able to look at big 4 cvs of 'older candidates' and oddly, they are a mix of Oxbridge, Russell group, red brick and new university - but I only see experienced people.

I do yes. In my field some universities' degrees are recognised by our professional body, some aren't. The content and quality of those that are and aren't is significantly different.

Redexpat and curly Thanks - they both look useful. Will suggest at work next time we start recruiting, (Going through a restructure at the moment.)

For those who think that university blind is a good idea - that would work fine if students at every university took the same exams. However, if you need to be better at French to get a 2.1 from Nottingham than a 2.1 from Luton then that is important. I actually disagree with the 2.1 obsession. (And I have one!) The company I work for would reject an Oxbridge graduate with a 2.2 but accept a Swansea graduate with a 2.1. Even if under any objective measure (eg A levels) the Oxbridge graduate is far far more able.

I have a very very foreign name and I still have got jobs that I wanted because I was a good fit for the role and also many interviews. However I do think this could be a problem to other people so no name when going through application is a good idea. It should be based on whether the person is good fit for the role and not on their age/name/skin colour etc.