Job Interview Discrimination in North America

Hi. My name is Ronnie, and I'd like to share a little story with you. So, nice;

story time with Ronnie. I lived four years in Japan — beautiful country,

wonderful people, good mountains — and one thing that really shocked me was the

job-interview process, and the amount of information that people were asked and

give in job interviews.

So, for example, in Japan, I remember on resumes, people had to give their

picture, their age, maybe their marital status. And I found this to be very

strange, because in Canada and in North America, this just can't... just don't

give your picture. Because I'm sure that people will judge you on your appearance

in a job interview. Even just looking at your resume, like: "Well, this one's

gorgeous — let's hire him." You can't do that. And we have really strict laws

about this in North America, so I'm here to walk you through some.

You have to be aware that there are many questions that the interviewer cannot

ask you; based on race, age, gender, appearance. There's also the problem

that you have to know enough not to talk about them yourself. So, for example, if

you're a new mother — congratulations, you just had a baby — and you're going

for a job interview, don't mention the baby. Okay? It's not illegal to say that

you don't have a baby or say you have a baby, but it's just a very dodgy subject

to talk about at a job interview. It makes you look very unprofessional.

You're there to talk about your job, and you getting a new job; not about your

newborn baby. So, you have to watch out for professionalism.

If you get involved in talking about things that are or can be seen as

discriminatory, not a good situation. You have to watch out for legal issues.

And you have to be aware that the standards in North America might be very

different from your country. They could be similar, but they could be very

different. So, pay attention, make sure you know the game before you run it.

Mm-hmm. Run the race. Practice.

So, discrimination based upon gender. "What do you identify as?" They're not

allowed to ask your sex. "Who do you live with?" Again, trying to determine

your gender can be caused as discrimination or can be looked at as

discrimination. "How are you related to the people you work with?" Again, it

seems that these questions are leading to: "What's your gender?" which, again,

is discrimination. They cannot discriminate against you based on you're

a male, you're a female, you're... choose to identify with whatever you

choose. It's just wrong.

Also, they cannot discriminate against you based on appearance. As I mentioned

to you in Japan, and I know in Korea as well, you put a picture on your resume.

And I know people are sitting there, going: "Nah, this one. Nah. Oh, this

one's cute. Let's hire her. Whoa, look at this guy's eyes. Let's hire him." You

cannot do this. Appearance. You're not allowed to talk about how much you

weigh, your height; unless it is very, very specific to the job. If you're

going for a job for the tallest person in the world, they can ask you your

height. But if it's a general question, if you have to meet some height

requirement, they can ask you: "Do you measure up to six-two?" or "Are you

taller than three point five?" if it's required for the job. It's very

important to stress that. "Do you have any disabilities?" If this is brought

up, again, it can be seen as discrimination. "Are you pregnant?"

Never, ever ask a woman if she's pregnant. Okay? I don't care what social

situation you're in, but especially in a job interview — again, it can be seen as

discrimination.

We have age discrimination. So, depending on how old or young someone

is, they could be denied a job; again, unless it's a legal requirement. In

Canada, if you're under 18 years of... of age, you cannot work in a bar

legally, so they can ask you: -"Are you of legal age to work in Canada in a

bar?" -"Yes." That's perfect. They can't ask you specifically how old you are.

"When's your birthday?" No. "What year were you born? What year did you

graduate?" If they know what year you graduated, and they're good in math,

they're going to know your age. Maybe they are concerned about someone being

too old for a job, or too young for a job, which is that way. "When did you

get your first job?" Mathematically, they can figure out how old you are. So,

these questions — very, very dangerous. Be careful.

As far as availability goes, your schedule; scheduling. So, they're not

allowed to ask you if you can work on evenings or weekends. That seems

strange. Why? Because this gets into religion and your marital status. "Do

you have children?" They can't ask you that. It doesn't matter what religion

you are, you can't talk about that; it's not their business. Working at night,

working evenings, working in weekends can kind of determine your religion.

Marital status — married, single, divorced, widowed — none of their

business; not allowed to give that information.

And this is a huge one: "Are you planning to have a family?" I know, in

Japan, if you were planning to have a family or you were pregnant, they would

not hire some people because they thought that they weren't loyal to the

company; they would just work there for a little bit, get pregnant and leave.

Also, when I was in Japan about 10 years ago, when women actually were pregnant

and had children, some companies didn't allow them to work anymore. Oh, hello.

In North America, this is very, very wrong. They cannot do that to you.

Another big thing is your ability to work. "Do you have a work visa?" Okay?

They can ask you that. But they can't ask you about your citizenship or your

background, your parents. They can't ask you to see a birth certificate because

where you were born has nothing to do with you getting a job. They can't ask

you to see citizenship papers. They can ask you for a work visa or work permit,

because that's the law, but they can't ask you about anything about your

family. Oh, it says: "Why do you speak French?" Hmm. Why do you want to know if

I speak French? This has to do with discrimination on a citizenship level.

It's not your business why I speak French, unless of course, you are

applying for a job as a French-English translator or a French teacher. Hmm.

Maybe this is an appropriate question to ask.

So, I highly suggest that you know, with the back of your hand — that's an

expression — what things are okay to be talked about in a job interview, even on

your part. Because if you start going off: "Oh yeah, you know, I was born here

and..." Oh, you've given them too much information. So, please be careful. But

good luck out there. You can get this job. Just know your rights.