Be Aware of Discrimination in Interviews

Kate's Blog has an interesting post about the dangers of Facebook - and other social networking sites - which may help you prevent employers from seeing too much information. But if you aren't sure what information an employer SHOULD see, I'd like to help. This entry will discuss some legalities of hiring people, including what aspects of you are legally protected from discrimination as well as the unprotected information, and how this effects you, the interviewee.

The Civil Rights Act was created in 1964 and revised in 1991. This protects six groups of people from discrimination under the following criteria:

1. Race
2. Gender
3. National origin
4. Religion
5. Age
6. Disabilities
   

Other groups that are protected through different laws in the US (depending on state) include: pregnant women, Vietnam veterans, and members of the gay, straight, or bisexual communities.

So if those things are protected, what isn't? Well, depending on the state, some important non-protected information includes: marital/family status, transgender status, political beliefs, criminal conviction, social origin/status, etc. I think, for college students, political affiliations are an important aspect that is not protected. Facebook asks where you place yourself in the grand scheme of politics. If you're willing to answer this question on your profile, be aware that employers may see this along with any of the other unprotected aspects.

Now that you know some of the important laws regarding hiring/firing people, you should also know what this means for you. When interviewing with a company, there are some illegal questions you should be aware of. Anything pertaining to the protected criteria listed above, for example, is off limits. Some less experienced interviewers may fall prey to asking about these things on accident, while others are clearly digging for the information. Be careful to side-step these questions even if the person intends no harm.

An example would be an employer saying, "Wow, you look really young. What's your secret?" This could be a completely innocent way of asking another woman about her skin care line. But it may also be a way to probe for the applicant's age. A more blatant attempt to break the law would be, "You look too young to want a full-time job. How old are you exactly?" This is clearly an illegal question.

You have a few different options for answering illegal questions. Using the same age example as above, you could say,

"I may look young, but I'm more than capable of handling the position."

This is a good way of avoiding a direct answer, while still being polite. If you'd like, you could say outright that the question is illegal and you'd prefer to move on to another topic. However, this may offend the interviewer. If you're really interested in the job, that's not something you'd want to do.

Now, I've only scratched the surface of the sticky subject of hiring/firing people. This topic has a lot of grey areas that I have no time to cover and no way of knowing every little detail, exception, and example. I simply want people to be aware of this information when entering into the job search.

Graphic Novelist to Visit Campus!

Okay, I'm sure you've heard of The Simpsons....

You have? Good!

Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons) was college buddies with graphic novelist, Lynda Barry at Evergreen State College in Washington. He actually got her career started by publishing, without her consent I believe, a comic called "Ernie Pooks Comeek" in their college newspaper! Now she has written a number of books incorporating graphics, collages, and the written word into one big mish-mash of creativity. She calls her work "autobifictionalography" which is to say that the stories are both true and false about her childhood and adolescence.

In One! Hundred! Demons!, Barry devotes each chapter to a different problem she faced growing up and even in adulthood. For instance, she loved to dance as a kid, until the fateful day when a friend told her that she wasn't very good. (Leave it to our peers to stamp the creativity out of us!) At the end of this book, Barry gives a brief tutorial on how to paint your demons. She believes that anybody can write or paint. She explains that we should all give it a try and see what demons we unearth.

While these graphic novels look like kid stuff, I wouldn't suggest passing them on to your youngsters just yet. Some of the topics are not kid-safe.

If you'd like to hear her speak, she'll be in the NY Room in Cooper Hall TODAY March 25th at 8pm.

Voicemails, Emails, and Ringbacks! Oh my!

Once upon a time, one of the secretaries at Career Services called a student about an internship position he had applied for. She heard his voicemail message and promptly hung up. He had composed a lovely rap song. It did not have vulgar language or inuendos. It was simply a rap song.

Is this an appropriate thing to have as your voicemail message?

The correct answer is no. If you are conducting a job/internship search, you will inevitably provide your phone number. Usually college students list their cell phones because it's much easier to reach them. However, many college students also have silly or inappropriate voicemail messages as well. Employers don't like this. The most annoying, in my opinion, are listed below.

"Hello? ... Hello? ... I can't hear you. ... Leave a message!" -- This is rude, annoying, and about one hundred other synonyms for rude and annoying. When my friends have this voicemail message, I stop calling them. This is childish and thoroughly frustrating when you truly want to contact the person. Employers will feel stupid if they fall for this trick (as do I) and judge the applicant before ever meeting him/her. While this is amusing to you and maybe some of your buddies, this is not professional.

"WHASSUP?" -- Does this need an explanation for why this is inappropriate? Really? Okay, well let's start with the fact that a lot of people yell this tag line. Employers, especially those in a cubicle or close quarters, do not want colleagues hearing this coming out of their receivers when they call to schedule an interview. Secondly, this provides no information for callers. Did they reach the right person? They'll never know. Third, the beep will come pretty quickly after this greeting. Callers may not be ready and may feel uncomfortable leaving a message, but equally uncomfortable calling back after quickly hanging up. I implore you: don't do this!

"You know what to do." -- This is not rude or filled with inappropriate language. In fact, it's not terrible. But, the employer may be bewildered about whether he/she is leaving a message for the correct person.

The best type of voicemail provides the caller with your name. If you'd like, you could also list your phone number so wrong callers will know they made a mistake. Next, ask the caller to leave a message with important information, such as a number to reach him/her, a good time to call, the reason for the message, and any other pertinent information.

Hello! This is John Smith's phone, but I'm unavailable at the moment. Please leave your name and number with a short message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks!

Of course there are variations to this. If you're wondering what a good voicemail should sound like, call any employer and listen to his/her professional messages at the office.

If your voicemail message is adequate, what about your email address? Is it something silly like JohnnyAppleseed@gmail.com? Or is it something inappropriate like 2cute4u@yahoo.com? How about this: does your email link to your Facebook profile so employers could easily search for you? Does your email (like AOL) have a profile connected to it? These are all valid questions to think about when providing an employer with your email address.

I'm not suggesting you simply leave your email address off your resume. Create a new email account that's appropriate and used for professional correspondence. Your Brockport email address will do temporarily, but remember that you no longer have access to this account about 3 months after graduation.

Now, the most interesting topic of all: ringbacks! Did you recently purchase Katy Perry's song to occupy your callers while waiting for you to answer? I'm sure they appreciate that, but employers don't. Many of these downloads are harmless, but anything inappropriate is obviously something to avoid. My friend had the Barney theme song as his ringback for a time simply to annoy his friends, but changed it as soon as he was interested in finding an internship. He was right to revert back to the old-fashioned ring, and you should too if you're like him! Please, please don't lose an opportunity just because you absolutely had to have the new J-Tim song! You don't even get to listen to it, so why bother?

Marge Piercy Came to Brockport!

Marge Piercy - author of over thirty novels and books of poetry, one memoir, and countless other influential writings - visited Cooper Hall last night! She and her husband, Ira Wood, drove here from Cape Cod yesterday with plans to drive all the way back today. She first sat with my Writer's Craft class to answer questions about her writing techniques as well as projects she is working on at the moment.We should expect the history of roses from her soon. At first this topic sounded extremely boring, but she wove a tale about wild roses that quickly stimulated my interest.

Woman on the Edge of Time is written in the 70s about a woman named Connie who travels (from her mental hospital) to the futuristic village of Mattapoisett. While most of you are probably thinking that this will be a book with robots and clones, you're mistaken (for the most part). Connie's vision of the future is far from what I've seen in other movies, books, or even cartoons. I couldn't set this book down and finished the few hundred pages in record time!

New Resume Tool!

OptimalResume is the office's new-ish résume building tool. Only students affiliated with The College at Brockport may use it - we're lucky! - so take advantage. It'll still be available to alumni after graduation as well.

Just log-in to your Banner account. Click on the tab labeled "Career Services" and find the OptimalResume link. You can also find this tool on the Career Services website, but the link will simply direct you to your Banner account.

After a quick and painless registration for which you need an email address (does not have to be your college address), log-in for easy access to the best résumé builder I've ever used. This tool will not only format your résumé (which, let's face it, Microsoft Word is too time-consuming for this process), but also provides sample résumés, suggestions for each section, and action words for your bullets. You can even research careers on *ONET through OptimalResume.

Résumés are not the only necessity when applying for jobs. Most of the time you will need a cover letter as well to show your interest in the position and catch the employer's eye. Luckily, OptimalResume has a tool for letters as well, including:

• Cover letters
• Thank you letters
• Broadcast letters
• Employer inquiries
• Networking letters
• Reminders
• Follow-up letters
• Acceptance letters
• and, Reference letters

This tool is especially helpful because it provides information on what to include in each paragraph for each type of letter. It also provides examples that you can add right into your letter. Just don't forget to personalize it once you've added these examples. Some leave spaces for specific information. For instance:

I am writing to apply for the [position name] position listed in [publication/website name]. I am interested in contributing my experience in [career field] to [company name].

Notice how the tool encourages users to incorporate specific details about a company. This will personalize the letter so employers feel that you are writing directly to them instead of sending mass letters to any company you can find. It shows you're interested in working for their company and their company only.

Another useful tool is the website option. Once you've completed a résumé and/or cover letter, you may turn it into a website! This is so simple that anybody can do it. Simply click "New Website" and name your file. A new window will pop up prompting you to choose which resume and letter (if desired) you'd like to display. The next step asks for a passkey. This allows for you to choose who can see your website. Only those with a passkey (even if they have the URL) may view your site. Make sure this is appropriate and not too personalized because you will be sharing it with employers. The last step is the style of your site. While this won't be wildly personalized, colors are a good way to represent yourself. For example, people who wear red to interviews are thought to be more confident. Likewise, people who wear earth tones are thought to be more relaxed and calm.

Resume/cover letter websites are extremely beneficial in this technology age. Employers will see that you're comfortable with computers and the internet, something almost every job needs. Besides, it's an easier way to get your resume out to many employers, especially those who are anxious about opening attachments on their work computers. You can simply provide them with the link and passkey to your website!

The other nice aspect of using a website is the Infobyte. This gives you a way to advertise more about yourself without bogging down your résumé. Employers will pass the mouse over the I on the screen and a pop-up with reveal that extra information. This is useful for bragging about portfolios, details on projects, etc. again without having too many bullets on your résumé. In order to have an Infobyte on your website, you must input the information in your résumé then click save. Each time you update your résumé, the website will also be updated.

Don't forget: you may have your résumé and/or cover letter reviewed by a professional at Career Services just by emailing it to csresume@brockport.edu. Please email it as an attached Word document. This will allow the professionals to easily include comments and suggestions. They will review and critique your résumé quickly, usually returning it within 24 hours. If you'd rather work with a professional face-to-face, please drop in any weekday between noon and 2pm.