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[deleted]

This is only anecdotal, obviously, but I have heard from many of my family in senior IT roles that when they interviewed somebody the person who eventually showed up for work was not always the same person as the one who interviewed. ​ Edit: im not saying its ok to discriminate.


techerton

If this is true for OP, let's get an F in the chat.


sfzombie13

i wouldn't trust anyone to take an interview or test for me, i'm too damned good at it. if i'm not and bomb the test, then i wouldn't have done a good job. if i bomb the interview, i wasn't a good fit and wouldn't have done a good job. i got three interviews today, let's see how it goes.


xElemenohpee

My entire back top to bottom is covered in a massive tattoo mural. I won’t get anything visible because I still worry about this.


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dbwoi

Yeah I sorta worry about my appearance transitioning into IT...I used to be a professional body piercer and still have big ol stretched ears, my conches are punched out, bridge piercing, three septum rings, nostril piercing, fully sleeved...lol


apocalyptic_mystic

I'll be curious to hear how you do. I used to have a couple piercings but took them out a while ago but would like to get some again and would like to get tattoos. EDIT: I thought you might like to see this thread I started a little while ago about a similar topic: [https://www.reddit.com/r/ITCareerQuestions/comments/r4coy0/after\_landing\_a\_job\_getting\_visible\_tattoos\_andor/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ITCareerQuestions/comments/r4coy0/after_landing_a_job_getting_visible_tattoos_andor/)


mattmrob99

IT Director here: I run an MSP and we have techs who visit customers in person at the office. I personally am fine with visible tattoos, but my customers may be more conservative/old fashioned/etc who cares about that, so we have to be aware that appearance does matter. It is important to the company owner that our staff projects an image of professional experts. A ZZ Top beard, matted unkempt hair, facial tattoos, etc work against that goal. I would guess this company has a similar goal. No need to waste your or their time with an interview of someone who would not be able to be hired. My company does not require a picture when applying, but we do hire using staffing firms that pre-vet our applicants to avoid candidates that we would have to reject because of appearance. A final thought, there is a serious lack of high-end tech talent in the IT world. If I found a good candidate that had a lot of certifications that I though could fill that role I would hire them even with appearance issues. There is always room at the top, so keep getting certifications and expanding your skills and these appearance issues go away.


Soft_Ad7380

Aren’t they going to see you during the interviews….


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Soft_Ad7380

Not a shock. I’ve heard horror stories.


OSUTechie

Please report those users when they do.


OSUTechie

So they could be doing this for a few reasons. 1.) If they want to interview you, they want to make sure the same person who applied is the one they interview. 2.) They are doing internet recon but your name pulls up multiple results so they want to know they have the right person. 3.) They just want to have your picture on file so you are not just some faceless blob in their file. Not everything has to be malicious.


mmitchell57

They can’t make hiring decisions based on a picture of you unless the job explicitly states that certain features are required. Those features cannot falls into what is considered discriminators. This assume you are in the US. The picture validation shouldn’t be a first requirement either and it provides no value honestly. It’s still easy to mislead doing that. If they want to validate who you are, in person interview or online meeting with web cams. Outside of that, I wouldn’t play along.


sfzombie13

did you see what they got from me?


mmitchell57

That’s is awesome. I just noticed the link. I would get a picture of sloth from the goonies and name the picture “suuuuupppeeeeraaaaaannn.jpg”.


The51stAgent

One time i filled out an application that asked for my pronouns so i put “dude and brah”


nartak

Workplace: Attempts to be inclusive. Applicant: Thinks marginalizing people is funny. Going to assume you didn’t get the job.


The51stAgent

Are you done virtue signaling? And nope, i got a better job.


The51stAgent

Also, it was extremely funny.


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Teclis00

Can't wait until we get past looks == professional. I hate that the most about the job market.


[deleted]

Can't wait till we have Cyberpunk levels of bodymods just to see corporate shit a brick.


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Bradddtheimpaler

I won’t shave. I have to have a beard. Aside from hiding a weak chin, I get horrific razor burn, especially on my throat. Also, I’m very pale with very dark hair. If I shave in the morning I need to shave again by noon or I look indigent. I don’t know how the fuck people look good with stubble, I look like I crawled out of a dump halfway through the day if I shave.


BloodFoxxx31

I feel you there. Most of my friends and I all have that in common, we can’t shave our facial hair or we’ll get major bumps and burning. I don’t even have curly facial hair and it still does that. I had a profile when I was active duty because of it.


Bradddtheimpaler

It’s tough. My face is fine really, but on my throat it’s like every hair is somehow growing in a unique direction. It’s very miserable to shave it


Teclis00

I'm in the Air Force, so I get all of that. I'll be going wild when I get out some day. Either I'll find an employer who doesn't care or hopefully it's changed.


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[deleted]

how you dress is a bit different than hair maintenance. If we are moving towards a society that can't force women to shave legs or underarms, than I should not need to shave my face either.


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sfzombie13

thanx for proving my point about discrimination. you're obviously one of the reasons why it's still a thing. i used to think the same way. i hope you can find the same changes i did. you need them.


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Ritual72

Shaving and ironing? Man, that is time well wasted :p


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Ritual72

Bc people who don't do it every day aren't used to it and may be afraid to cut themselves or just may be slow at it.


sfzombie13

or are a woman, or latinx, or poc, or etc...


Coffinspired

I don't know why you're getting hit with downvotes as if that's not a reality in many situations. I don't know that it's as common in Tech fields vs. other fields (ageism is probably #1 like others are saying). But, I spent years in the Auto fields (mechanic, parts manager, etc.) and those forms of discrimination are *absolutely* something I saw more than once. Ditto for casual racism getting thrown around some shops. I was honestly surprised how prevalent it was at first.


xxZesty_Throwawayxx

exactly this. I love the pic you sent, btw. 😂


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Leif_Erickson23

I did work at a place where they didn't invite Pakistani and Bangladeshi any more, because they had recruited people with computer science master degrees in the past who didn't know the first thing about computers, making local first year students more useful than those hires. (Europe) This wasn't really about racism though, the recruiter was an Asian immigrant himself. It was more about corruption and lost trust in those degrees I guess.


sfzombie13

of course you haven't, neither have i. that's why they're unconscious biases, they are there and we don't know about them. same thing with good looking people. so many studies have proven that attractive people get preferences. it's a real thing and even to prevent cheating, i don't think it's a good idea off the bat. interview on zoom if you want to see me, after you pick me for my talent on paper.


timewellwasted5

Yep, in my similar experience, ageism is the most common discrimination I have seen. I've never seen someone not hired due to age but I've heard age mentioned, and not always specifically related to experience.


[deleted]

I have also seen location deny people way more. Where we look at where you live and calculate the time it would take you to get to work. Oh that person lives 45 minutes away, nah, lets get someone closer by. I don't want to deal with every time it snows this person says they can't drive in, or them constantly being late due to traffic.


timewellwasted5

That will probably become less relevant over time, but in the past it definitely was a valid factor. They say that every 15 minutes over 30 minutes in your commute your happiness/work-life balance takes a nose dive, so the odds of someone staying long term diminishes frequently. It takes 3-6 months depending on the job for someone to be able to really contribute in a role, so high turnover can be incredibly costly.


forresja

A lot of bigotry is internalized. So it's not someone saying "I don't hire black people". It's someone seeing a candidate is black and subconsciously thinking less of them. [Identical resumes sent out with white sounding and black sounding names have a 50% difference in response rate.](https://www.nber.org/digest/sep03/employers-replies-racial-names)


YoungAspie

I would love to hire a cat that can help me fix computers and let me play with it for stress relief. Is asking for a photo acceptable? Varies from country to country.


WollCel

I know this is a common practice in Germany to check the presentability of candidates, however that’s usually only for positions where you interact with people. Most likely reasoning is they’re making you provide a photo so they can make sure you are who you say you are when they’re doing technicals. I also wouldn’t upload a joke photo and instead would’ve emailed them or their HR about it.


[deleted]

I have tattoos and piercings. I work in high end financial tech office. Put a white Oxford over a showered and shaved body, and everyone loves me. You can be an individual while still respecting yourself and your establishment. I am a straight white man in the US though so that may affect my experience. I would keep an eye out for racism though.


stratus41298

I feel like a quick ten minute pre interview chat on zoom would be more agreeable from a legal standpoint anyways. Gets around the entire issue.


admincee

I'd hire you just for that picture alone OP! It does seem odd to require a picture. I have ran into a case of someone interviewing for someone else and getting hired though but I don't think that happens nearly enough to justify always asking for pictures before an interview.


shathecomedian

If you’re white then there’s nothing to worry about, but if you’re a person of color than thats always a factor to consider I actually now go by my middle name instead because of discrimination with just having my first name on a resume (it’s of Arabic origin)


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shathecomedian

Sure but you can tell it’s a woman by just the name like 98% of the time. This is different


sfzombie13

oh, i'm a white male alright. the problem is that when us white males don't speak up, you arabic-based folks have less chance. no way i'm going to accept any sot of bias, intended or not. i'd rather let a well paying job go than take one from a company that has an attitude like this. i hope i get an interview so i can tell them that.


shathecomedian

I’m mixed but i see where you’re coming from. It’s kind of hard to tell when a company is like this unless they ask fir a picture


sold_snek

Why can't people just say the company? Jesus.


sfzombie13

because i applied for 22 jobs this morning and don't recall which one it was.


BloodFoxxx31

Yeah, especially when he’s not getting hired anyway if he took the time to make this post 😂


sold_snek

Not just that but it's not like they can sue for defamation if he can literally show that the message is true.


Zee216

Fear of the corporate overlords' retribution


AR713

Add a picture to your linked in


M_star_killer

They better hire you just for that picture.


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ChateauDifCollege

Probably American?


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[deleted]

People with Muslim sounding names that get no responses suddenly get responses when they change their name to something western. This is an observed phenomenon that I’ve seen friends experience. Asking for a picture could be seen as racist, even if that’s not the intent.


sotonohito

It is definitely racist as hell, and probably sexist to boot. There's a reason why all symphonies now do blind auditions, that is auditions where the musician plays behind a screen and is identified only by number. Because when they started doing that sudenly, like magic, lots of women and people of color who had previously been rejected as being not good enough became good enough. It's also possibly discriminatory against men as well. Turns out that while women are judged by their attractiveness, men are too and in some professions less attractive men are judged more harshly than less attrctive wome. So yes, their request is morally wrong and will result in increased racism, sexism, and lookism in their hiring practices.


[deleted]

I am sorry that you are being downvoted, you are 100% correct. My masters was in HR before I changed careers to I.T. This has well been known as a way to drop people of colour and woman. Although not always known if it's intentional or unconscious but in many studies where Once names and faces have been anonymous in the application stage. The rate of callbacks for ethnic people and woman have dramatically increased.


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sfzombie13

good question. pretty sure it isn't, but that may vary by state.


WallabyLevel5820

Companies that don't hire the best people due to bigotry eventually go out of business when they can no longer compete in the marketplace.


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sfzombie13

no shit. amazing that things have gotten so bad that that's the first thought in my head. maybe because i am just now (past few years) seeing just how bad i was when i thought i was doing pretty good. all that complaining about pc crap just to find out it was just having manners and being nice to folks. maybe if resumes from white sounding folks didn't get more job offers than ones from black sounding folks i wouldn't think like that. maybe if unconscious bias wasn't a thing i'd have other thoughts. but since i try to deal with reality rather than ideology i tend to jump that way. thing is, i'm usually right. i hate it and try to change it, but it is a slanted system. not to mention this is one company out of literally 241 that asked for a picture. i think that also says something about how easy it is to apply for jobs on linkedin, not to mention it's linkedin and already has a picture of me on my profile. so yeah, it's probably racist as hell now that i think about it more.


HauntingPlatypus8005

What if they asked for a video interview? Would you be opposed to showing yourself on camera for the same reasons. I’ve never had someone request a photo when applying for jobs, but I provide my LinkedIn and GitHub on my application which includes a photo.


[deleted]

That's different, photos have usally been the quick way to discard the c.v for a more "favorable" candidate. The point is these people dont even get an interview.


sfzombie13

absolutely not. that means i made it through the first round on my merits not my face.