Employment Information

In the lightning fast World Wide Web, today’s job applicant has to do more than just look in the local newspaper for job openings. Most employers don’t list in newspapers anymore, and instead have switched to advertising their job postings online. So the job applicant’s search has become an internet search.

Job search engines like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com are great because they allow you to find exactly what job you are looking for. Simply enter your application information and upload your resume. You can choose to have your resume available for public view or you can send it only to companies with openings that interest you. The sites also have detailed descriptions of the open positions so you can determine whether or not you will fit the offered job. Savvy searchers must be wary of unnamed companies, and companies that are national and do not have local branches. These often are “work from home” scams, or will require you to pay money to sell a product.

Did you know that many interviewers look at more than just a person’s resume and application information before making a decision about whether or not to hire them?  It’s true: many interviewers, whether they are aware of it or not, also judge candidates by their body size.

This is an incredibly unfortunate bias that exists more strongly among women than it does among men.  Studies have shown that women who are interviewing people for positions often are harder on a prospective female candidate because of weight issues than she is on a thinner woman.  Unfortunately, there is not much to be done about this problem because most of the studies have shown that these people do not even know they are biased against the heavier candidates.  It is surprising for many people to learn that the weight biases were not as strong among male interviewers as was initially though by the organization conducting the studies.

Who is protected from workplace discrimination? The answer to the question is everyone.  While you may not have a discrimination case on your hands if your boss fires you because he doesn’t like you personally, you can take action against him if he doesn’t like you because you fall  into one of the “protected categories”.

Protected categories of discrimination include broad generalizations like gender, meaning that everyone, everywhere, is protected from workplace discrimination.  Men can be discriminated against just like women can.  But there are other protected categories like sexual orientation, race, religion, disability, and pregnancy.  All of these categories are protected by anti-discrimination laws in the United States.  Of course, there are many different laws that cover each of these categories and the discrimination must first be proved in a court of law before justice can be served, but have no fear: you are protected.