Job Fair or Unintended Discrimination
Job Fair In Town
You've been unemployed for a while, falling behind in your bills, getting depressed, etc., then you see light at the end of the tunnel. A full page ad in the news paper accompanied with a 15 page circular outlining 40 or 50 companies that are going to be at the "JOB FAIR"!
Your heart starts pumping fast and you feel a rush of adulation because you think this is it; finally there has to be something for you at the job fair. No more filling out applications, or sending out resumes, or checking multiple job searches on line. No more wasting gas to drive to companies to apply. This is the break you have been waiting for.
Now you start to prepare by going through the list of companies to eliminate the types of jobs that you clearly are not trained or qualified to do, such as jobs that require a medical degree if you have no medical training. Then you update your resume to make sure that you are prepared to hand one to every stand that you can with hopes of speaking to someone about your qualifications for the positions that are available.
The morning of the job fair you are going over potential interview questions so you are ready for anything. You have your resumes in hand and you look your best with your dress clothes ironed, shoes shining, and you are well groomed. You have it in the bag, or do you?
Reality Check
As you get to the location of the job fair you notice that reality has blind sided you with the entire population from unemployment city all ready to apply for the same jobs that you are going to apply for. The line going to the door doesn't seem to end. You wait your turn to get in to find that there are at least 1,000 people already inside, in lines at each booth. You patiently wait your turn at each booth to get to the front of the lines. With your resumes in hand and a smile on your face, you know that you stand out from the crowd. Then another shot from the reality train; these people don't want to talk to you, or see what qualifications you have. They are only building up a pool of candidates in case they experience job openings. You are told that you can hand in your resume, but you need to apply on line to be considered for any positions that might be available.
Am I wrong or is this supposed to be a job fair? What is the point of the job fair if I need to go home and apply on line? I have been at home applying on line with no results. I thought this was the break in the action that I needed. Is everyone being told to go home and apply on line, or are only certain people being told that?
Is Discrimination At Work At The Job Fair?
As I look around at other applicants and at my surroundings I take notice of several things that many might believe are signs of discrimination. Not discrimination of the so-called minorities; those with darker skin, but discrimination in a much more hidden manner. Discrimination that might be more of a consequence than that of intention. I'm talking about unrealized discrimination against the Caucasian Male. The evidence that brings me to that conclusion is this:
- I see signs on the wall about hiring a Veteran. Help the unemployed veterans.
- Signs that read, "Equal rights to women".
- Signs on State Government booths that read, "We help minorities find jobs"
- Job applications that state they are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate, yet the first question after that is, "What is your race?" What does my race matter unless that is going to be taken into consideration for the job.
- The next question is asking what my sex is. Again that only matters if that is being considered for the job. Since there are signs that mention equal rights for women, that tells me that a woman will be hired over a man.
Every time someone puts someone else into a class to identify them and make them stand out so they can have preferential treatment in the hiring process, it discriminates against someone else. All of the policies put in place such as Affirmative Action, or Women's Rights, or Veterans Rights etc. are helping certain classes but none of the policies help a white male. In fact they put the white male at the bottom of the pile so all of the other classes can be helped. As a while male, I need a job as bad as all of the other classes that are being protected but it is harder for me to land that position even though my qualifications may be much more in line with the job being applied for than those that are being protected. The white male is discriminated against due to an unintended circumstance of anti-discriminatory policies.