| Topic Name: |
Short, Fat and Balding |
| Message Name: |
Some general interviewing prep concepts |
| Date Posted: |
01/14/2003 |
| In Reply To: |
I recently had a second-round interview with one of the top 3 management/strategy consulting firms. I was asked about my age (I'm slightly older than the average applicant), and some of the employees there made comments about my height, weight and hairline (I'm short, fat and balding).
What should I do about this? I know the age thing is definitely illegal, but I'm not sure about the other stuff.
I thought about demanding an offer or I would talk to a lawyer and the EEOC, but this seems like blackmail.
Any ideas anyone?
And don't tell me this kind of discrimination is a fact of life at consulting firms.....I intend to do something about this, I just don't know what yet.
|
| Message: |
In interview preparation it is important to consider: 1. Our physical impresssion 2. Our choice of clothing 3. Any shortcomings or mis-match we may have in the company's ideal candidate profile.
You should then prepare a detailed response for each area of percieved weakness. This will allow you to come across better in the interview. This strength and weakness profile and preparation should be customized for each individual interview.
My history: Worked in high tech the last 37 years. Tall,overweight, 57 years old, grey hair. I ran my own recruiting firm for 4 years. Then began interviewing again and moved back into sales. In interview prep I prepared for the fact that some interviewers considered fat people as low energy, poor salesmen. Additionaly I grew up in Oregon farm country and speak slowly. This has been percieved as a sales performance weakness and I had to develop a interview plan to over come this impediment.
|
|
