Page 1 of A rant posted on my FB.

I need to vent and hope this post stirs up as much anger, humiliation, hurt and frustration as my partner (Brian Pryde) and myself have had to endure since yesterday. The company name cannot be mentioned for legal reasons however Brian had an "informal" interview with said company. He looked immaculate in his new suit, shirt and tie. His long stylised hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and his beard was trimmed. Shoes polished? Hell, yeah! It's fair to say he looked rather handsome - and I don't give out compliments easily . My very good friend of 15 years who hadn't met Brian prior to his interview, commented later to me that she thought he was incredibly handsome, smartly dressed and smelled amazing - in fact she asked me to find out what aftershave he was wearing! After the interview, Brian was very confident as he really had done his research on this company. The fact that he was previously employed by them (in two of his roles in his time working for this company, he worked in the reception area so therefore, he WAS the face of this company) but he had worked for this company for several years in various roles which also gave him a great edge. In Brian's words, he gave the interview of his life, quoting Press and TV adverts back to the interviewers who insisted on "brief responses" in a rather curt manner aimed at another candidate. I got a blow by blow account of the interview and was impressed with Brian's responses in what seemed like an uncomfortable interview with another 2 potential candidates at the same time. Anyway, in my opinion and the opinion of the other two candidates, Brian had aced it. He felt he wasn't given the opportunity to mention any of his experiences in working for this company previously as "there was no need" according to one of the interviewers.

Fast forward 24 hours when Brian received a call from the Agency stating the interviewers stated they had an issue with his appearance which was described as "unkempt"!!! Seriously??? When he phoned me in a rather distraught manner, I genuinely thought he was joking but I knew from his tone that he wasn't. I just didn't know how to respond. I think I just saw red initially but this feeling was quickly replaced with shame. Shame that I live in a world where people are judged purely on their appearance. An appearance which, as you will see from the pictures which I will upload when the shock has left me show a rather handsome late 40's guy who is very smartly dressed and well presented.

Please share this post if you think there is something illegal about this? Rejected from a job because he looked unkempt? Is it the beard? Is it the hair? Is there anyone else out there who wants to destroy his confidence? Bring it on! Share it, Like it, Ignore it, do what you want but whilst ignorance like this still exists in this world, It really does make me feel even more detached from it than ever before.

I am stunned that someone from the company would contact you and actually say that he didnt get the job because of his appearance? I mean in this day and age its leaving them wide open to all sorts of problems i would think. On a personal note and only guestimating i think this is down to his previous employment, does he know anyone who he rubbed up the wrong way or who would have a problem with him?

Unfortunately in todays market the employer has the last say, and can turn down an applicant for no reason. I am amazed they even gave an excuse.

A lot of interviews are also 'need at least three applicants by law, some from outside'' and then give the job to someone already 'in house'. By law there is supposed to be competition, but it is easy to already have someone in mind, and go through the process to make it look competitive.

It is even worse when you are in an insecure job like a contract position and they sack you for not being good at a job, when there really was no job there in the first place.

That happened to me, years ago when I was a contract engineer for a while, and I was sent to an engineering consultancy by an agency, along with another engineer and four draughtsmen for a 'so called' job.

Once there, we were given a small building to design the building services which was so small a job it was nonsense for the amount of people hired, but as we were getting paid by the week,  ok, so we did it, and meanwhile a load of guys in smart suits walked by us in th eoffice, and unknown to us they were prospective clients , and they were looking at us as 'a load of staff working hard', whereas we were really only hired as a load of 'bums on seats' to make the consultancy look busy, and drum up work for themselves.

Two days later we were all told to leave, as being incompetent and would not be paid for work and travel there.

We realised the situation, and threatened them with lawyers and they paid our full week. We also spread word round the industry not to use that agency, due to them using dirty tricks. (The agency later went bust, served them right). 

This is one of the reasons why I decided later on, to work for myself, as self employed. I now hire people occasionally, and try to be fair.

THE MORAL.....
So the moral is, you may rant, you may rage, but everyone gets it in the neck sometimes, life can be unfair, and the secret is to just get back up , smile and get on with it.

This item was edited on Sunday, 2nd March 2014, 18:09