Applying for Jobs
 

I have been applying for real world jobs today.

I swear, 7 out of 10 of the job postings want you to send your photo before they will consider you for an interview. I told Galla today about how I wrote a snarky email to one of them about that. I was more than qualified for the position they were offering, but I had to blow the chance by being all hoity-toity about not wanting to send my photo. I sent it from gmail though so it's not like they couldn't look at my google+ page an see what I look like. XD

But then another one was an online application, the very last step of it was to upload your photo. agaasdasasdfsadh. What is the world coming to?

uh.... it's illegal to ask for your photo >x> right? that is hiring on bias(there is zero legal reason to need it)

I've never had anyone request my photo for a job application before. Just for my drivers license and my passport. O_o;
That is really strange and odd to me.

That does seem odd. I know employers can't ask for details like facebook pages or passwords (some apparently try to). They can see how you look if you are called for an interview.

I thought it was illegal as well but sooooo many of these are asking for them.

Technically they're allowed to ask for one -- in and of itself, the request isn't illegal.

That said, there are a lot of reasons why you're permitted to politely refuse. It is illegal to make hiring decisions based on race, ethnicity, religion, disability, gender, or age, and you've got a federally-mandated right to refuse to answer questions about those. It IS illegal to DIRECTLY ask about any of these, but there are a lot of questions that would IMPLY these, and you're not required to answer the questions if it would.

And since a photograph could reveal ALL of those, you are within your rights to make an image file saying that you decline to provide a photograph under your rights granted by federal non-discrimination law and upload that in place of a photo.

They could be banking on you not knowing that, or not knowing the technicalities. If you give it to them willingly than you probably can't get mad at them later if you learned it was illegal. They can't make you give it to them if that's the case.

It's more likely that they simply want to get to know you before the interview, perhaps even to be able to identify you when you show up, and that the request is completely innocuous and well-meant. But they can't make hiring decisions based on that information -- AND they can't choose not to hire you just because you exercised your rights.

Unfortunately, that last bit is really hard to work with, because if they turn you down and you challenge them over it, they're not likely to want to work with you after you've raised a stink.

I just think it's strange for them to ask for a photo. D:

I probably would skip an interview if they requested a photo...mainly cause it's weird and a little creepy. How do I know this is legit and not some creeper trying to get my photo. >__<

I have never been asked to provide a picture on a job application. That is just plain weird in my opinion!

I will say the one I sent the snarky response to was for something much like a bartender position. From past employers I also know they like to hire . . . or at least my last couple of bosses liked to hire "hot blondes." And we had one really attractive blonde lady working with us and whenever they would be talking about customer experience he'd say something like "make sure Julie is there to greet the customers." This always made me feel really uncomfortable XD And then some of the customers would like to talk about how they went to such and such place and there was this absolutely gorgeous gal there, or they would come in and ask if/when Julie was working. Man. . . so I just wanted to refuse to send a photo to these guys, even though I am certain it will keep them from ever calling me D:

A lot of customers would also bring Julie presents ._. /sojealous

why would you want creepy strangers trying to win sex out of you via tokens like a vendingmachine?

^^ That. XD

I'm not a vending machine, sir and/or madame cumstomer (I unintentionally pun'd...). My sexual favors are not an easily won prize...asshats.

exactly! it's skeezy to watch people try to defend it too, sure you can give a gift but there is 0 reason for you to expect anything for it and 0 validation to try and get anything for it

Totally agreed.

I get attention from people, but I never feel like they are trying to get in my leggings - thankfully. Except the manbeast. *eyerolls* that man... XD

well from him it is expected, of course it is also expected that he'd have a bad day if he tried anything funny XD

Aye, I would simply avoid anyone asking for a photo. It's unspoken that looks and things that are not to be discriminated against always are discriminated against in a job setting. I worked at a hotel that refused to hire people with children, because they would supposedly want time off and need to leave early to deal with kids (all while doing the exact same thing for theirs. Double standards ahead!).

Sending a picture would give you decent grounds for a discrimination suit if you were not hired afterward, but as Coda pointed out it would make for a fairly icy work environment. If you can, I say work for a soulless massive corporation that doesn't care who or what you are. Sure they may lack personality, but remember that personality is not always great. HR is always a plus...unless they're coming for you.

Also if you're searching for a job on Craigslist...I would use some other search. Not a lot hires on Craigslist except, well never mind.

I actually got an interview for a real estate receptionist thing! :D

Woo! Good luck with that. I hope that goes well for you. When is the interview?

Friday at 10! >3> I have found most of my jobs on craiglist XD with the exception of one that I got from being stuck waiting in a verizon store for 3 hours with some guy and bitching to him about it, and his company happened to be hiring. I worked there for 4 years :'D - ---

But I don't trust these people trying to get photos first.

And it's like, if you don't send your photo . . . does that just automatically disqualify you for the position?

I would check things out on Indeed if you haven't already done so. Not sure what the market is like there, but you can find a few things on there and they are generally legitimate. Generally.

people get jobs through craigslist? isn't that the site where people go to find their murder victims?

This is, in fact, illegal, and if they're making hiring/scheduling/pay decisions based on whether or not the candidate is female (and, potentially, if she's white/Latina, if that factors into their idea of beauty) that's unacceptable.

There's exceptions that can be made for discrimination based on sex/etc. that's necessary for the job (it's not illegal to require a female actress to play a female character, for example, or to require that the pastor of a Christian church be Christian), but I think it'd be a hard sell to convince the labor board that a bartending job is better filled by a woman than by a man.

EDIT: However, giving preferential treatment to Julie after she's demonstrated a particular competence at her job (even if that competence is a result of her appearance) isn't illegal, because she's doing her job.

I've never heard of a job application requiring a photo before!

what part of the world do you live in???

I can imagine it being done so that people can get a look at someone. When I accepted job applications when I worked at Tim Horton's, the bookeeper would ask me how they looked. ie. did they look professional and nicely dressed or did they walk in wearing torn jeans and a t-shirt with greasy hair? That's what I would expect employers would be looking for when they request a photo.

Make sure you learn and develop a good phone manner! People aren't always patient when dealing with things that are costing them a lot of money, especially if they (often) aren't really sure what is being done.

I've never had that issue.. Weird. ): Isn't that illegal?

I've never seen any job listing ask for a photo when searching for myself, but my mom recently changed jobs and apparently her previous employer was asking for photos to hire her replacement.

The reason behind it is, like Quiet mentioned, to ensure that a front office/reception position is filled by a person who looks clean-cut and professional, capable of making a good first impression to clients who walk in the door, because that is an important factor of a reception position. HOWEVER, it's difficult for people in general to separate out professional-looking from attractive a lot of the time, once the picture is given.

I think it seems a lot more reasonable to make that judgement on professionalism during an in-person interview, where the candidate is also able to make an impression about the whole package of their behavior and mannerisms, not just physical looks alone.

I've never heard of a photo being required with a job application, that's not something I've come across in my hunt. That's likely a method of attempting to hide age/race discrimination which is illegal. Power to you for ripping whatever particular company it was a new one for it. Someone should be speaking up.

My job hunt issues are more complex and come down to the interview process:

Inexperience - the Catch 22
Around here, retail employers idealize anywhere from a few months to a few years of customer service experience that seemingly an individual must pull out of their ass. No job description I've read is open to entry levels.

The only way to receive consideration for simple tasks such as bagging or ticket ripping is to be elderly or mentally handicapped. I've seen many of these individuals in positions I've applied for and while I appreciate that these individuals are not discriminated against and applaud their drive and initiative, it's bullshit that I'm not seen as able to do the same tasks.

This is actually the root of the rest of what I'll be pointing out.


Social Flutterby
I'm terribly socially awkward. I have trouble initiating and at times maintaining conversations as well as lack composure when speaking. As a result, I sound clueless (which let's face it, I am, but I'm not supposed to let them know that if I want any chance at the position).

I'm also unable to think on my feet which kills me when I need to improvise situational performance questions; particularly those which ask for my non-existent prior expierence with a certain scenario.

Honesty is NOT the Best Policy

I'm a compulsively honest person. To quote one of my favorite television characters, Cordelia from the series 'Angel': "I think it, I say it. That's my way".

I have little ability to lie and I like it that way. I don't feel comfortable attempting it.
This impairs my ability to improvise and/or make a negative answer sound more positive (although the latter is not really lying) such as when I am asked if I have prior experience in the position and of course those situational performance questions.

****
I'm also quite stubborn and refuse to even go near fast food positions. Not only would that embarrass me (Sorry, no offense, it's certainly better than nothing) but I feel I'd be unable to keep from eating the food and I've already got enough of a muffin top thank you. XD

This shitty economy also isn't helping, thanx for nothing Obama.
*sigh* Being an adult is too hard.

Umm.. What jobs are you applying too that is asking for your photo that doesn't sound right. I've never had to do this for any job whatsoever.
Cover Letters
Resume
Additional Documents

But picture? That doesn't sound right, unless your applying for some kind of modeling position or being a showroom girl (like at a convention/show.

Ah clever consideration but since Glitch complained to one of the companies which requested a photo of them, I'm guessing that is not the case.

Ya i've seen it a lot. They just slip it in like "send your resume, cover letter, and a photo."

One was for a dentist office receptionist, another was for a budtender position, another was for a reception position with a realty company

That's fucking terrible! As a budtender I find that behavior horrible and makes the rest of us hard working medical workers look bad. Sexifying and glorifying for the wrong reasons.