THE UK TELEGRAPH has a report that's sure to get the politically-correct in the wonderful world of tighty-whitey wedgie: "Tattooed woman 'told to put bag over head by Jobcentre'". Hayley O'Neil, 23, - who also has 20 body piercings - says was also advised to ''stand behind a wall'' when she asked a job centre official what post she could apply for.
She eventually left the Job Centre Plus centre in Blackburn Lancs in tears without any interviews lined up after the advisor concluded: ''Who would hire you looking like that?''
Miss O'Neil, who got her first tattoo from her mother as an 18th birthday present said: ''I just felt so humiliated. I couldn't believe what this guy was saying.
''I said I could take the piercings out but they look a lot worse when they are out."
"The guy said: 'on first impressions do you think anyone would hire you?' He said: 'look at it this way if you were to stand behind a wall - or put a paper bag over your face do you think you would have a better chance?'
At least there's call centers.
I'm surpriused that you're surprised.
ReplyDeleteAdvantage of living/working in the(a) city. Just about anybody can get a job. Except old people. They have to go to the burbs and work for Wall*Mart
ReplyDeleteI probably would have been a little more tactful than the job centre guy, but let's face it, excessive facial piercings are career limiting and anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool. Unfortunately she'll probably be able to get some government functionary to side with her in some sort of human rights tribunal and force employers to hire her. At least that's what would happen here.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, pretty people always get the jobs.
ReplyDeleteIt's a sad commentary on society in general when visible piercings and tattoos are the determining factor in employment.
ReplyDeleteMy tattoos are all above the elbow and under the shirt - they have to be because some of the people I interact with have preconceived notions about what a guy with long hair, an ear ring, and tattoos is, and is like.
Someday, maybe, what decorations we decide to put on our body will matter less than what we know, or can do.
I think (although I'm probably an idiot) that if you are born with detracting features you may be more accepted than if you impose them upon yourself.
ReplyDeleteWho defines detracting?
ReplyDeleteWhich was the stupid part? The person seeking gainful employment, or the lucky, employed person taking work time to unload their personal view of the world on someone who didn't fit a dated stereotype?
ReplyDeleteAnd a man in authority unloading on a vulnerable woman to boot. How does a few grams of decorative metal and ink frighten people that much?
People gotta do what they gotta do. Everybody's sense of aesthetics is different: some people like puke green Hyundais, for example.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I regard tats and piercings like aftermarket pinstriping and vinyl on a Ferrari — if the stylist had wanted that stuff, it would come that way from the factory. The body just doesn't need these afterthought "improvements".
One line I heard on Just For Laughs a few years ago: "Saw a dude the other day with a big ring through his eyebrow — thought he'd been caught and tagged by the Stupidity Police."
I remember before getting the job I have now, I was 5 long, difficult months searching. I registered with every temp and placement agency in town, and got told by one that a woman my age has to work a lot harder to market herself, particularly one who is as overweight and "plain faced"--she said it in French, I'm translating loosely--than most other job seekers. I remember wanting to reach across the desk and fighting off every urge to choke the ever loving shit out of her (and for me to have those impulses, I had to have been mad, I'm non-violent and usually maintain the passive-aggressive road). Sadly, she was correct.
ReplyDeleteMy main trade is administrative assistant/secretary. I have yeas of experience, all kinds of skills, hold two post-secondary college diplomas and have some university behind me and I'm bilingual, but that doesn't seem to matter more than how I would fill out an outfit or make-up (which I refuse to do).
I was even once told by an HR consultant that bosses generally hire those they want to sleep with. Talk about creepy in addition to shallow?
What kind of society have we degraded ourselves to?
The conbots preach so-called "equal opportuntity" to get a job. Doesn't work if you're not a perky, anorexic, 23 year old with implants.