Equal Employability in Practice
According to the employment equality law, employers are forbidden to discriminate against a person on the basis of age, gender, disability, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and political conviction. Unfortunately, equal employability in practice does not always follow the employment equality law, while the global economic crisis which increased the rate of unemployment did not only increase the competition among job seekers but also the risk of employment discrimination. Most employers are primarily interested in qualifications of applicants for the job but unfortunately, their decision may be also influenced by discriminatory criteria.
It is often very difficult to determine on which basis the employer has chosen another person due to the closed nature of interviews. There is always a possibility that the person was hired because he or she was really the most qualified of all applicants. In addition, the employers are aware that they could face discrimination charges if a single question implies on employment discrimination, for instance asking about nationality or sexual orientation. For that reason they will most often avoid any actions and questions that may be interpreted as discriminatory making the employment discrimination very difficult to prove. In fact, it is hard to prove employment discrimination even if the interviewer directly denies employment due to gender, nationality, religion or any other discriminatory criteria because it is the interviewer’s word against the applicant’s. Although the law is on the side of people with the so-called protected characteristics, the chances of winning an employment discrimination claim are very low unless the interviewer admits using discriminatory criteria for denying employment.
Considering that employment discrimination is very difficult to prove, the applicants with protected characteristics can often only hope that the employer will not use discriminatory criteria when making decision whom to hire. There is, however, a way to reduce the risk of employment discrimination if you think that you may be in a disadvantage to other applicants due to any reason. With today’s unemployment rate, it is often a success if being invited to interview and for that reason it is crucial to prepare yourself for the interview as best as you can in order to be able to make a good impression and increase your chances of getting hired. Practice the most common questions that are asked during interviews such as “why you think that you would be the best person for the job“, research the company and requirements of the workplace you are applying for, choose clothing very carefully and make sure that you come to the interview 5 to 10 minutes earlier than 1 minute late. It may be challenging to convince an interviewer with discriminatory views, however, it is important to be aware that all employers are primarily interested in increasing their profits and they can do that only if having highly qualified employees. And they are aware of it too which is why they normally do not allow their personal beliefs influencing their final decision, especially if you are really the best person for the job.