'Employers are focusing on beauty instead of brains'

“One thing is for sure, no where in the world will an employer ask you to submit your picture along with your resume. in fact in some parts of the world it is against the law to state your race, religion and in some places even sex!
It is only in Dubai that I have seen that employers require to have a picture attached to the resume. Looks play a bigger role in part time jobs like promotions and retail store sales. however, when it comes to more qualified positions, marketing manager, head of sales, HR manager, real estate broker, banker, I am sure the job demands more qualification.
My sister worked in a very well reputed recruitment company in Dubai, and she was interviewing candidates for her client who specifically wanted certain qualification, and someone preferably from the UK or the US. My sister interviewed hand full of people, and it turned out the most qualified candidate who was exactly what the client was looking for was from the Philippines. The client agreed to hire the candidate however lowered the salary package drastically from what it originally was!
What do we have to say to this?”

“Oh and Matthew, HR Managers only 'hire' people for their own department/function. HR can block a candidate being recruited, but the recruiting manager is always the person you'll be reporting to.

And when candidates are discriminated against on the basis of nationality or ethnicity, it's often because their communication skills were poor, or their working style didn't fit the culture of the recruiting company ... and it just happens to be that many people of their nationality are like this.”

“WheelieBin, if only I could get away with kilts ... but alas anything above the knee and I'm in danger of exposing myself. At least in trousers, I can slip it down one of my legs at no-one is the wiser.”

“Correction letter writer - if you really open your eyes in Dubai you will find certain companies only hire certain nationalities only. Example if you go to well known department stores in the mall you will find excessive Lebanese Males in sales dept especially at womens section - why??? Dubai is funny place for employment - I agree but at the end of the day your appearance speaks volumes to employer and customer depending on jobs. And New Crunch - yes you are right - in certain sectors of jobs people have to upgrade their training - doctors, therapists, engineers etc with modern inventions and technology out pacing us daily.”

“It was only 3 months ago upon arriving in Dubai I applied for a job........having had average skills and qualifications in this role I was shocked to find that I didn't get the role,

I was told, it was my appearance, WHAT APPEARANCE!!!!!

I am 7ft 2in tall, I have a Big GINGER BARNET, face full of freckles, 4 teeth missing, glass eye, missing top pallet, hair lip, ache, a severe case of the *** turrets, one leg shorter than the other, a limp, bad case of BO, tendency to spit everywhere and a horrible case of wind!!!

Oh how upset I was to find DESS didn't want me as a teacher!!!

On the upside, I did get a job as a Pirate!!!!”

“@Sharon: I agree with you regarding apperance, but you also have to agree what you know today may totally be irrelevant tomorrow. I work in the IT field and you can become irrelevant in years if you rely on what you know today. That is what I meant :)”

“How do you really know that the 'good looking' are the same or even better qualified for those positions that you have applied for, did you manage to see at their CV;s or did someone tell you that the 'good looking' candidates got the job because they are good looking but you were more qualified.

I know a lot of very good looking people that are having extremely good educations, CV, and great job positions, they are handling their job perfect.”

“Job Discrimination On the Verge

While some company's down size employees due to the economic crunch, there are many discriminating top notch company's filled with Discriminating HR Managers that hire employees based on skin color thinking that would define their personality( Employers are Focusing On beauty instead of Brains- Letters - 7 days -12th July 2012).There are many candidates who are waiting in A queue expecting a job coming down from various country's completing their higher education.

The Recruitment system out here has to be streamlined as a whole. One has to be presentable at the time of attending an interview. Candidates should be hired based on their profession, education, experience and the way they conduct them self's at the interview. It the work , skill, dedication, patience and determination that matters and not the looks . Does it make sense for companys to hire attractive candidates for post of customer service/ Admin/ Data Entry Clerk. May be it high time for all the company's that post ads on various news papers to erase the funny default statement. I re call an incident in a school where a Muslim teacher filed a complaint against a principal for making fun of her "Abaya" during an interview.

Candidates should be allowed to file complaints against company's that discriminate employees and against those fake greedy recruitment agencys that lure candidates in taking their money promising them for a job. Company's should focus on candidates who are knowledgeable and can come up with innovative ideas making the office atmosphere live and friendly instead of focusing on their skin color. Mlitty”

“Best put your kilt on, Fatbhoytim...”

“New Crunch - Seriously knowledge and ability do not last forever, maybe you meant looks don't last forever unless you have some help(botox or a decent plastic surgeon). Knowledge is power and an attractive characteristic.

Statistics have proven that the prettier get the job, if the employers have a good training & contract in place there should not be a problem. Once again it's at the descretion of the employer.

Who are the majority salepeople/frontine staff in the UAE?”