Job interviews a minefield for discrimination
60.4% of Aussies say they were questioned about their personal life during job interviews and 36% said they were discriminated against because of their answers according to the results of a survey conducted by leading career building and networking site Linkme.com.au.
The study of over 2000 people reveals that most interviewees ask questions regarding age, marital status, place of residence and number of children.
CEO of LinkMe Pty Ltd Campbell Sallabank says: “A number of ethical issues are raised by this process. Recruiters perceive such information to be an integral part of determining a risk free candidate however personal information is legally off limits.
- 62% of Aussies believe there is a bias against certain suburbs and this impacts on employability
- 69% believe there is discrimination against single mothers
- 73% believe there is discrimination against mothers with small children
- 84% say there is age discrimination
“Stereo-typing applicants based on their personal life is just a lazy way of filtering candidates. This approach often means organisations miss out on quality staff and hard working Australians are misconceived leaving them with employment difficulties.
“23% of respondents found that answering personal questions helped them because their response swayed employer perceptions in a positive way.”
