Monday, August 31, 2009

Ouch!: HR Takes a Hit on the Evening News

I just watched a segment on the news about unemployment. It caught my ear. Then it depressed me enough to retreat to my new uninformed self. Here's why.

An older distinguished-looking fellow, who has been out of work for a year, told the reporter two job-hunting anecdotes while standing in line at a job fair. He said that at another job fair, he took the required "IQ test" of an employer and scored 99 out of 100. The recruiter told him he was too smart for the position and hired the fellow behind him—who scored around a 75 out of 100. Then he recounted an interview with another recruiter who told him her company had "enough colored people" there now. He told her that what she was saying was illegal and he could report her comments to someone of higher authority. She said he'd have to prove she said it.

And don't you start thinking this little episode took place in the land that time forgot. No sirree. New York City was the setting.

It's hard enough to fight the competition for a job. But when you're fighting stupidity and discrimination and cruelty as well—from the very people who hold the key to your future—you begin to wonder whether staying in the fight is worthwhile.

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