Are Recruiters and Employers Prejudiced?

Prejudice is a horrible word. History tells us that the human race seems to have a self destruct button and many global conflicts have their origins in prejudice, suspicion and hatred. Some people have contacted me in the past and suggested that their CV was being rejected and they believed that recruiters and employers were being prejudiced against them.

The law in the UK protects people against prejudice and discrimination on the grounds of race, sexual orientation, disability, colour, religion, sex, age and many other things. The simple truth; however is that people do have prejudices and, distasteful as it may seem there are prejudiced managers that are responsible for employing people at all levels of authority, not just in the UK but all over the world.

In general, recruiters are very careful to stay inside the law when it comes to rejecting applicants for a job role. If your application or CV is rejected, you are completely within your rights to ask the reasons for the rejection. The reply may not give you all the details that you need; however are useful feedback which gives you an opportunity to act upon.

The quality of the CV that recruiters receive varies enormously- I have seen some excellent as well as some truly awful CVs and the truth is that rejection of the CV in the vast majority of cases is down to the quality of the CV rather than some deep held prejudice that an employer may or may not have.

Some years ago, I had the privilege of working for one of the largest cash and carry organisations in the UK. The staff at the business were predominantly Asian, many having successfully moved to the UK from India, Pakistan and elsewhere. Whilst travelling to a meeting with a colleague that had moved to the UK from Pakistan, he remarked that the UK was the very best country for someone with his background to move to, better than the USA, Australia, Canada and many others.

When pressed as to the reasons why that was the case, he answered that the vast majority of the British people were fair minded, gave people a chance and if you were prepared to work hard, you would get on and not get held back. This answer didn’t surprise me- I have found the vast majority of Brits to be fair minded and definitely accepting, welcoming and not in the least prejudiced.

So if your CV does get rejected, before leaping to any unfounded conclusion- get your CV checked out professionally- it could well be the CV- I’d be amazed if it was anything else. Recruiters and employers are a representative cross section of the general population. The vast majority of people in the UK and the USA are fair minded and responsible individuals.

Are Recruiters and Employers Prejudiced?