I know this to be true and pervasive despite living in what many call a progressive society. The phenomenon is widespread and is not limited to private sector where who is know is key to getting a job, it is also practised in the public sector despite having layers of selection criteria and assessment processes. Talk to graduates and mid-level lateral and vertical transferors to discover that these stories unsurprisingly tally.
How many women power in the labour force will be wasted or under-utilised if such archaic attitudes persist among recruiters and employers?
I have learned that the value in work experience accumulated more than five years ago depreciates drastically even if they are more relevant and useful because recent experience will carry more weight in the recruitment assessment process.
We can't change people's mindset overnight but there are ways to try to get around it. However, there is only so much one could polish up the presentation. Women got to vote only in the last century. Hope it won't take a few generations for a change to a fairer system.
Competition is keen out there and mothers or family carers trying to rejoin the workforce are needlessly disadvantaged. Not to discourage those who fall in this category, there are other obstacles to overcome even after the best efforts have been made to reorganise your resume with the help of consultants.
Some of the "fears" cited by recruiters are uncalled for, or may even be excuses, or irrational attitudes that they themselves can't give a convincing explanation. If head-hunters could offer three times the pay some mother returning to the workforce could do equally well, and yet they are likely to opt for the talent searched than what is within reach.
It is a long shot. But let's hope that recruiters will be more compassionate and level-headed after reading this article. It is frustrating for the job seeker, something which recruiters will not care to understand as business goes on as usual.
Rather than chasing various elusive human rights issues, it is high time activists try to help people next door, in your street, and closer to home. It goes without saying (that's an assumption) that economists and sociologists would have their radar up by now.
"Mothers trying to re-enter the workplace need to combat backward attitudes" - by Jim Bright (Prof of career education and development at ACU)
Sophie is concerned that her time out of the workforce raising a family may be counting against her at interviews.
It beggars belief that women still contend with neanderthal thinking. It is crazy that Sophie's extensive relevant experience is being ignored and that is so much emphasis is being placed on the past three years.
Taken on face value, though, the issue is best addressed by Sophie altering how she presents her work history rather than relying on educating the recruiters.
Until we reach a time when recruiters are legally obliged to provide detailed written reasons for rejections, there will always be a temptation to discriminate between candidates on non-job-relevant grounds.
Sophie should try reorganising her work history to emphasise her current skills, knowledge and abilities by placing some key competency statements at the beginning of her resume before the work history.
... recruiters' attitudes to interstate candidates vary depending on the seniority of the role. Some recruiters may incorrectly infer that an interstate candidate is somehow not serious about the role, or is desperate.
For some jobs, recruiters may be concerned that they will be hit with relocation expenses or interview expenses, or may take the view that an interstate candidate poses a greater risk due to the possibility that they might not settle in their new state.
Sophie's best bet is not to get angry and vexed about this ingrained problem; rather, she needs to get past the annoyance to anticipate and neutralise concerns and questions in the recruiters' mind.
Extracts from "My Career" section of Sydney Morning Herald (26-27 Nov 2011) - not available online at the time of this blog's publication.
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