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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| A scruffy dilemma | A scruffy dilemma |
| (1 day later) | |
| The recent debate over wider access to the professions opens a whole can of worms, says Laurie Taylor in his weekly column. | The recent debate over wider access to the professions opens a whole can of worms, says Laurie Taylor in his weekly column. |
| I've distrusted interviews ever since the day that I was rejected for a job on the sales counter of a children's clothes retailer. | I've distrusted interviews ever since the day that I was rejected for a job on the sales counter of a children's clothes retailer. |
| Already having contacts in your chosen field can help you get in | Already having contacts in your chosen field can help you get in |
| It was all a very long time ago but I still remember how much I coveted that sales job. Various counters were dedicated to regulation school hats and blazers and skirts. The weekly pay was good. There were long holidays. | It was all a very long time ago but I still remember how much I coveted that sales job. Various counters were dedicated to regulation school hats and blazers and skirts. The weekly pay was good. There were long holidays. |
| My interviewer was a rather strict middle-aged woman in a tight black two-piece suit. She began by asking about my educational background and my reasons for wanting to work in the retail sector. I'd rehearsed all my answers carefully and felt confident that I'd done justice to myself. I certainly couldn't think how I might have done better. | My interviewer was a rather strict middle-aged woman in a tight black two-piece suit. She began by asking about my educational background and my reasons for wanting to work in the retail sector. I'd rehearsed all my answers carefully and felt confident that I'd done justice to myself. I certainly couldn't think how I might have done better. |
| But as we neared the end of the allocated half-hour, a phone repeatedly rang in a neighbouring office and my new friend asked to be excused for a moment. | But as we neared the end of the allocated half-hour, a phone repeatedly rang in a neighbouring office and my new friend asked to be excused for a moment. |
| While she was away, I scanned the form which she'd been completing during the interview. Viewed from upside down it made little sense. | While she was away, I scanned the form which she'd been completing during the interview. Viewed from upside down it made little sense. |
| FIND OUT MORE Hear Laurie Taylor's Thinking Allowed on Radio 4 at 1600 on Wednesdays or 0030 on MondaysOr listen to it here on the iPlayer | FIND OUT MORE Hear Laurie Taylor's Thinking Allowed on Radio 4 at 1600 on Wednesdays or 0030 on MondaysOr listen to it here on the iPlayer |
| But there was one scrawled comment across the top of the form which was clearly legible. I shifted slightly to the left to bring it into focus. And there it was, the verdict on all my smooth talking, on all my shows of interest, on all my engaging smiles and enthusiastic nods. | But there was one scrawled comment across the top of the form which was clearly legible. I shifted slightly to the left to bring it into focus. And there it was, the verdict on all my smooth talking, on all my shows of interest, on all my engaging smiles and enthusiastic nods. |
| It read: "Scruffy. Suggest Stock Room." | It read: "Scruffy. Suggest Stock Room." |
| Since that time I've been required to sit on any number of interview boards. I've interviewed thousands of student applicants for university places, hundreds of aspirants for postgraduate research, scores of academics looking for a university appointment. | Since that time I've been required to sit on any number of interview boards. I've interviewed thousands of student applicants for university places, hundreds of aspirants for postgraduate research, scores of academics looking for a university appointment. |
| During nearly all those interviews, there comes a moment when a repetitive tom-tom beat has broken out somewhere in my head. | During nearly all those interviews, there comes a moment when a repetitive tom-tom beat has broken out somewhere in my head. |
| Scruffy. Suggest Stock Room. Scruffy Suggest Stock Room. | Scruffy. Suggest Stock Room. Scruffy Suggest Stock Room. |
| It was, I realised, my way of reminding myself of the injustices which could so readily be perpetrated by the interview process. It made me reject any prejudices that might have built up because of the candidate's demeanour or accent or posture. | It was, I realised, my way of reminding myself of the injustices which could so readily be perpetrated by the interview process. It made me reject any prejudices that might have built up because of the candidate's demeanour or accent or posture. |
| Sometimes, judgements can be made on the basis of scruffiness | Sometimes, judgements can be made on the basis of scruffiness |
| It made me more determined than ever to give some credit for difference, and awkwardness and lack of convention. In other words, it inclined me to favour candidates who intellectually or sartorially displayed a certain "scruffiness". | It made me more determined than ever to give some credit for difference, and awkwardness and lack of convention. In other words, it inclined me to favour candidates who intellectually or sartorially displayed a certain "scruffiness". |
| After a series of such interviews at the university where I held the chair in sociology I was taken aside by a senior philosopher from the interviewing panel and told that some of my recent judgements had been rather "perverse". | After a series of such interviews at the university where I held the chair in sociology I was taken aside by a senior philosopher from the interviewing panel and told that some of my recent judgements had been rather "perverse". |
| Although I was entitled to my views on candidates I should bear in mind that selecting on the basis of "difference" was a dangerous criterion. "After all," he said, as we walked along the bank of the artificial lake on the way back to our respective colleges, "what interviewing is really about is trying to find chaps who on the whole will fit in well with the existing system." | Although I was entitled to my views on candidates I should bear in mind that selecting on the basis of "difference" was a dangerous criterion. "After all," he said, as we walked along the bank of the artificial lake on the way back to our respective colleges, "what interviewing is really about is trying to find chaps who on the whole will fit in well with the existing system." |
| "You mean people just like us?," I said. "Exactly," he said. I've rarely heard a philosopher sound quite so unambiguous. | "You mean people just like us?," I said. "Exactly," he said. I've rarely heard a philosopher sound quite so unambiguous. |
| It seems that appointing "people just like us" has now become a political issue. A recent report into graduate unemployment suggests that an important reason for the relative exclusion of members of lower socio-economic groups from the professions is not their inability to reach the required educational standards but their lack of "social capital". | It seems that appointing "people just like us" has now become a political issue. A recent report into graduate unemployment suggests that an important reason for the relative exclusion of members of lower socio-economic groups from the professions is not their inability to reach the required educational standards but their lack of "social capital". |
| Those outside the middle classes are less able to call upon contacts, or take advantage of networking opportunities. And if they're lucky enough to get to the interview stage, they may still blow their chances because they lack what are now called "soft skills". | Those outside the middle classes are less able to call upon contacts, or take advantage of networking opportunities. And if they're lucky enough to get to the interview stage, they may still blow their chances because they lack what are now called "soft skills". |
| They are, how can one put this, just a little, well, scruffy. | They are, how can one put this, just a little, well, scruffy. |
| Here is a selection of your comments. | |
| And of course the converse also applies. If, like me, you are independantly educated, come from a good family and have a previous professional track record then, when your career comes to a premature end and you need a little help to make ends meet, you will never land that coveted job in retail or a call centre either. | |
| Instead they take one look at your CV and tell you that you are vastly overqualified. Which, of course, you are. But it may not alter the fact that you do need a job and would have worked hard for the firm.Jenny Day, Saltash Cornwall UK | |
| Very true. I am one of the few blokes that have gone against conformity to grown their hair long, and I am judged on that, even if I keep it tidy and clean! And guess what! so many jobs are made unavailable to me just because I decide on keeping my mane. So perhaps all the ladies should get their hair cut short too if employers are going to be so judgemental! OR perhaps they are just being sexist? Hmm...Iain, Winchester | |
| Young middle class people don't have "contacts" or a "network" but their parents, wider families and friends parents do. But I am not very impressed by those who use those secondhand routes to get in touch with those who can help them. I'm far more impressed when a young person builds those networks for themselves, by phoning, e-mailing or blagging their way into a network of contacts without the aid of others. | |
| What disadvantaged young people MAY lack is the opportunity to reach contacts or networks. It is A) role models who show them what success looks like and B) the self-belief that THEY can do the things they would like to do.Veronica, Henley on Thames | |
| So there is a glass ceiling, despite it being an offence to have one and to be discriminatory. Let me just say that if you employ clones you will get shoddy output because they will all fold if one folds. A business thrives on diversity and the ability to employ creative thinkers who can best lift a company out of the doldrums if there are troubles. If you employ people who are "the same" none of them will have an original method of getting the work done differently and you will be doomed.Rohen Kapur, London, UK | |
| I intentionally arrive at interviews with something a little off. I've turned up with frizzy hair, shoes with cats on them, childish handbags, etc. It forewarns an interviewer that I'm a nutter. And if I get offered the job even though they know I'm a nutter, I won't feel stifled and miserable because I wasn't myself in the interview...Troo, London | |
| I once had an interview with at a branch of a computer sales chain; having trained as a programmer and used, repaired and built my own systems for clear of a decade, I felt I'd have a good chance of getting a job. However, it went wrong in about two minutes, when I was interrupted answering the first question regarding ability with "do you have a ponytail?" At the time, my hair was past my waist, so "ponytail" was perhaps an understatement, but regardless I was told this was "against company policy". (I was too frustrated to make a coherent reply, which would have been that as they allowed women to have long hair, this was legally discrimination). | |
| Regardless, I did end up getting a job in a warehouse, and kept the long hair. After 13 years, though, last December I got the hair cut short again - and now I'm writing this from my new job in an office at a law firm in central London. I really, really hope there is more to this than just snobbery about appearance - but after reading this article, I do wonder.Peter Rolph, Enfield, UK | |
| I couldn't agree more. I come from a working class background and don't feel that I have the "middle-class" soft skills when I go for an interview. I try to look tidy and well groomed, but seem to end up looking slightly scruffy. Even at the age of 46, I haven't found the confidence I need to be convincing.Nick, Warwick, UK | |
| I'm a "soft skills" trainer and regularly undertake interview skills workshops. Quite a lot of time is spent raising awareness of forming pre-judgements from reading the CV, not just someone's appearance. The biggest appearance taboo seems to be men wearing white socks - an unforgiveable mistake. We also spend a lot of time discussing what is meant by 'fit' - and how it's illegal to choose someone based on the football team they support rather than how well they can do the job. We all have biases, realising what your own are is the only way to ensure you're fair in interviews. Katie, London | |
| The whole recruitment process is based on a very flawed human trait: discrimination. This is exactly what we do when we recruit. We are singling out an individual from a group who best fits the role we are recruiting from. Unfortunately, far too many of our own prejudices come into play because of this. Besides being "scruffy", you can be too short to be a manager (as people associate rank with physical presence), you can be judged stupid because you have a Brummie accent, you can be judged aggressive if you have a shaved head. The list of our prejudices is endless, and no matter how enlightened we think ourselves, we all suffer from it, to varying degrees. | |
| The key is to be aware of your own prejudices, and not to let them interfere, but this is very difficult, as the writer shows as he became preferential to those who were deemed scruffy, going the opposite direction to the person who had wronged him years before.The Ratchman, Cheltenham, England | |
| This seems likely, but I think rather than "people just like us" every board and committee should have an official "jester" - the outsider, the one who can speak other than according to the conventional line and perspective. Groups of "like minds" can wander into disaster while nodding in agreement. But then, as an adult with Asperger's syndrome, I don't score massively on "presentation" and "soft skills" (the province of con artists) though I've worked at them.Chris Brown, Launceston UK | |
| I am completely convinced that, had I not been, both constitutionally and by upbringing, averse to the wearing of a uniform, I should, by now, have been a senior manager instead of what I have remained for almost 30 years - a "bog-standard" classroom teacher. | |
| My first transgression in the sartorial sense, was to not wear a tie. And even now I am, not infrequently, mistaken for a member of the caretaking staff by visitors and new colleagues. This I quite like, especially when I see the confusion and embarrassment that often ensues when they realise their mistake, the more so if I have sensed a certain "hauteur" when first being addressed. British perceptions of dress as an indicator of social class remain strong, you'll be pleased to know. | |
| Having served on interview panels as a governor, I know to what extent the decision to employ a candidate can depend, not necessarily on his/her abilities to do the job, but on the initial impression they make as they come before the panel. Suit and tie - good: anything else - bad. Lack of sartorial conformity = threat or indication of a troublesome tendency to think for oneself. "This candidate's not taking it seriously!" is the unspoken thought that often runs around the room.Robin, Worthing, West Sussex |