Wingwalker Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Dear all, I'm currently unemployed and looking for a job. Yesterday I filled out an application form to work in a London based venue. Everything was going well until I was asked the following questions when they wanted to know about my background. Were my parents educated to degree standard? What kind of establishment was I educated in? Did my household ever receive state benefits? Did we receive any food vouchers? Now - unless I'm missing something here, how does that tell an employer whether I as an individual have the ability to perform a specific role either in our industry or anywhere else? Obviously I won't name the venue but I wonder is this a vision of the future that prospective employers are now asking? Wingwalker. (Note - for the purposes of clarity I am unable to remember the exact specific wording of the questions asked - but you get the general gist...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Is it possible this was in a section of the form that would be detached and processed separately under an equality monitoring process, in the same way that ethnic background and similar information would be? If they are taking such information into the decision making there could be grounds for unlawful discrimination, but I suspect they are gathering information on the background of applicants, possibly with the aim of being more inclusive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 There is only one question to be answered here; Does anyone sane even want to work for such rude, incompetent and stupid employers? I understand about the pandemic of mental illness and lack of treatment over there across the "ditch of death" but is it really that bad these days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revbobuk Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I would hope Jon was right. You can't discriminate in job interviews, and some questions are illegal - but the questions you specifically mention are not about 'protected characteristics. IANAL, but I think if these questions were a part of the interview process they are sailing pretty close to the wind. But they might be 'diversity monitoring' - if they are, that should be made obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitlane Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 This sounds like exactly the type of data that is gathered on students to monitor the progress on widening participation. It seems most likely to me that this is a similar exercise in monitoring the effectiveness of the recruitment process in attracting candidates from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingwalker Posted February 17, 2016 Author Share Posted February 17, 2016 Given the establishment I think they are really trying to sort the wheat from the chaff but in my opinion this is a wrong thing to do and should judge a person by their own merit and not if whether their parents received a degree or they were on benefits as they grew up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImagineerTom Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I'd guess that it's precisely because it's "that sort of establishment" they are asking questions like this to ensure they are attracting applicants from a broader background than you might expect them to. For the record this "circus monkey" has been employed in management roles by the NT, coliseum, ENB, royal opera house, saddlers wells and know of many people from considerably more humble backgrounds than myself working full time for them so certainly none of them have such policies in place. You do seem to be making a lot of assumptions and getting quite worked up about this - is there any particular reason why you're venting to strangers on the internet (who can do and tell you nothing relevant) rather than asking the actual company that you apparently want to work for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Used the right way it's how people monitor their equal opportunities programme so that people who can, get the job rather than people with the contacts. Used badly it's how firms ensure that all their staff come from "nice, rich, posh" families. Go back and ask them which. You posted this on the www so they probably know about it by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djw1981 Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 There is only one question to be answered here; Does anyone sane even want to work for such rude, incompetent and stupid employers? I understand about the pandemic of mental illness and lack of treatment over there across the "ditch of death" but is it really that bad these days? It's pretty standard in most recruitment processes I have been through- it allows the generation of stats such as '70% of our students are first generation higher education students or 0.5% of oxbridge students were on free school meals prior to applying. - it is often an easy way of ensuring that you have diversity of applicants, and identifying any subspecialist niches you need to advertise it. So there is equality of opportunity to apply, not equality in who actually gets the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themadhippy Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Only one way to answer this Were my parents educated to degree standard? Mind What kind of establishment was I educated in? your Did my household ever receive state benefits? own Did we receive any food vouchers? buissness Do you think id get an interview? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 It's not as if the person who formulated these questions is worth responding to. Every family in the UK gets state benefits by virtue of being a family and unless the whole family arrived here after 1979 then they would have had milk tokens and ration cards in the past. As for parental education we now have a Data Protection Act and an Information Commissioner. To give out educational, or any, information on anyone besides oneself requires their permission. Leaving aside my personal feelings that positive discrimination is as bad as any other form, the pathetic level of intelligence shown by these questions raises serious doubts as to whether the management were capable of running a whelk stall. I suppose I am just an old fogey and need to get with the programme of dumbing down the UK to compete with Eritrea and Yemen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 In Northern Ireland, every job presents the applicant with a form that requires them to provide details of their religion - it is used for equality purposes but still odd to fill in. The idea is to prevent one religion employment. Must be difficult to fill in if you are looking to impress. I wonder if people make their origin look bad, to give a worse impression that might be good? Madness. Like the current campaign for ethnic balance the Stage are pushing for. No longer the best actor for the role, but the need for quotas - not sure what is more offensive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musht Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Is the question missing "How`s your uncle?" Would have hoped there was a "prefer not to answer these questions " box? Or at least an clear explanation for the reason for the collection of such data, how it would be stored and for how long and who would be able to view the raw data. Asking on the application form loses anonimised statistical data excuse and seems to be a gross invasion of privacy, mebbe old fogey as well, or concerned that its hard enough to prove who you are already, without more raw personal data floating around. https://ico.org.uk might be worth a call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djw1981 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Most I have seen are a separate sheet in the application pack, and tick box to reduce handwriting comparison. To aid confusion I have sometimes completed it in a totally different coloured pen, and with my non dominant hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleah Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 No longer the best actor for the role, but the need for quotas - not sure what is more offensive?It frieghtens me that in order to be diverse (Why do employers have to be anyway?), the better, more capable applicants will be left without a job.What the heck is the country comng to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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