There is still discrimination against women in the workplace despite all the employment laws covering sexual discrimination. One of the places this discrimination occurs is in job interviews where employers are concerned that a woman applicant may want time off work on maternity leave or to look after dependents. So what can a woman do to prevent being discriminated against in job interviews.
I've been a sales manager for several companies, both large and small, and part of my role has been staff recruitment and interviewing job applicants. Although many laws have been passed to stop discrimination against women in the workplace there are still barriers to overcome in job interviews. An interviewer may not openly show sexual discrimination but there may be reasons they prefer a male job candidate to a female applicant.
A small business owner could be worried about women taking time off for maternity leave. This may not be a direct financial concern about paying women while on maternity leave, it's more probably about the cost of replacing and training someone to cover their role while they are off. I know in many roles it just isn't worth the expense of taking on a temporary replacement as it can take too long to train them up to an effective standard. Another concern for employers is whether the woman comes back to work after the baby is born or decides to become a full time Mother.
Larger businesses worry about recruiting women in the workplace as even in today's liberated society it is often the woman that takes time off if children or other dependents need caring for. This can lead to job discrimination against women as the employer may want to keep a certain balance of male and female employees to maintain staffing levels. This sexual discrimination means the best candidate doesn't always get the job if it's a woman.
In sales, which is the area I work in, many sales managers will want only a small percentage of their team made up of young women. This is because they still have to carry the sales target even when the team member is on maternity leave or looking after dependents. While employment laws to stop discrimination against the employee have been put in place, what about the poor sales managers that miss their targets.
So what can a woman do in a job interview to stop an employer discriminating against her. As a working sales manager I have seen many interviewers assume that any woman of child bearing age is either going to have children in the near future, or already has them and will need time off for parental care. The interviewer's view of the future may be a totally different to the plans of the job candidate. But because of employment laws on sexual discrimination they are not allowed to ask questions that would give them a clear picture of the situation.
One action a woman can take to prevent job interview discrimination is to openly discuss the topic and show she is aware of possible concerns. As an interviewer I would find this positively refreshing. It would show the applicant has her life planned out, knows that this is important to an employer, and is willing to confront these possible reasons for discrimination against women. If a woman has dependants then by telling the interviewer how she balances home and work, and what happens when care is needed, she is stopping the interviewer from making their own conclusions.
Is it right that a woman should face sexual discrimination because she is the one that gives birth? No it isn't. Should an employer automatically assume that it will be the woman that takes time off when the children are ill? No they shouldn't. But let's not pretend that the employment laws on sexual discrimination will stop an interviewer, male or female, from worrying about these issues and possibly employing a male candidate because they think a woman may be taking time off work in the future. If you have actions in place for child care, or know what your future family plans are, then be honest and open with an interviewer and stop their assumptions from stopping you getting the job you want.
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