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Age discriminationEquality, diversity and inclusionLettersJob descriptionsRecruitment & retention

Trapped in a Catch 22 subjectivity loop

by Personnel Today 31 May 2005
by Personnel Today 31 May 2005

I was interested in Kevin Kerrigan’s letter (Personnel Today, 17 May) about subjectivity in recruitment. I am actively seeking a new position and am amazed at the unprofessional recruitment practices out there.

Over the past year, I have made a number of applications to a major professional services firm for positions on the recruitment team.

When I applied for assistant-level positions I was told that the job was too junior and I would get bored easily; for the officer-level position, I was told that as my career has consisted of a number of fixed- term contracts (not through choice) I am viewed as ‘a risk’. I would not mind if they reached these conclusions after an interview, but they are just assumptions from my CV.

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It is a sad reflection on the recruitment team when they base their decisions on subjectivity and assumptions, rather than proven ability to do the job.

Martin Simpson
Recruitment officer

Don’t undervalue subjective opinions

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

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Personnel Today
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