My family is moving this summer and I am in the process of applying for positions where we will be moving. I applied for a position on Feb 13th and the week of March 12th I got a call to schedule a phone interview for March 20th. The phone interview went well and on March 27th they called to see if I could come for an in-person interview on April 3. Unfortunately I was 38 weeks pregnant at the time and couldn't travel that far. I asked if it would be possible to schedule the interview via skype or something similar and I never got a response. My baby was born on April 8th and on the 10th I contacted them and asked if it would still be possible to schedule an interview. Again no response and it's now been almost 2 weeks. Even if they are no longer interested in me or have hired someone else it would be really nice to know something for sure. Aside from being very rude and unprofessional, is this discrimination? I doubt I'll do anything official about it, but I'm just curious if they have done something that is illegal.
Update: They did know that I was pregnant and that was why I couldn't come for an interview. They did not say "We aren't hiring you because you are pregnant" because they never called me back, so they never said anything.
Thanks for all of the feedback. I have clearly moved on, knowing that they aren't going to hire me at this point. I did want to clarify that this is not a typical job application process. The position I applied for will begin in August (it's based on the academic calendar), so while they may want the position filled immediately, there is no rush for me to start. Unfortunately for me academic positions require several months of advance notice, so while I will not be on maternity leave when the position starts, having a baby in the spring interferes with their hiring timeline. I was also told by them that they were interviewing 3-4 applicants during the first 2 weeks of April, which is why I contacted them the second time (since it was still within that time frame). I guess it is true that they owe me nothing as far as an explanation, but given that I was one of 3 or 4 people they planned to interview, a simple email telling me the position has been filled would have been the least they could do.
No. You could not make it to an interview. That's why you didn't get a call back. If you could not have made it, because of any number of things...they would not have called back. Employers want someone who is jumping at working for them, making time for them, able to come in whenever possible. You couldn't. The reason doesn't matter, it's the fact that you couldn't. Sorry.
NO. and why do woman get so upset when; they apply for a job, are very pregnant, can't make the interview, then don't get the job?
Either way,they should have had the decency to inform you of their decision
I work in HR and I don't see any discrimination here since regardless of the reason, you weren't able to make it to the interview in person.
From a hiring standpoint, you need someone to be available not only for the interviews and hiring process, but available for work as required.
There are so many people looking for work right now that employers don't have time to make special arrangements for applicants. They are trying to get a position filled.
You've contacted them more than once. I think it's safe to say they have moved on to other candidates. I don't think it's right to ignore your calls, but many employers don't have time to contact each and every applicant or send out a letter that says, "Thanks for taking the time....".
It's unfortunate, but this economy has changed a bit of the etiquette standards that one might be accustomed to.
Congratulations on your baby.
Continue to look for positions that may be available a little closer to your move date.
Best wishes.
I don't think this is discrimination. You couldn't make the interview and they couldn't wait on your pregnancy. Hence, they moved on.
When I was an Executive Assistant, one of my duties was interviewing/hiring/firing the admin assistant position. I campaigned to be allowed to call people that they didn't get the job or the job has been filled, just to be polite. The president of the company, a lawyer and judge, refused my repeated requests because of the risk of possibly saying the wrong thing as to why someone didn't get the job and having that person bring the authorities (e.g. EEOC) into the game. Better, he said, to say nothing. I told him to let me try it once, just once, and I would prove to him that it wouldn't be a problem at all, that everyone would be gracious about not getting the job and pleased that they could "move on." Ha! Was I wrong. My 30 second call to say "I just wanted to let you know the position has been filled" turned in to lots of drama about how we made a mistake, we were discriminatory, we were fill-in-the-blank. My kind boss never once said "I told you so" after I had been proven so very wrong.
So, yes, it would be very nice if employers could call us and let us know if we were no longer in the running. We can blame our overly litigous society for this state of affairs. It is not unprofessional to say nothing; it is survival.
I think it's part of the "rooting out" process. No matter what your reason for canceling the interview was didnt matter, no shows lost their chance.
No...this is not discrimination....they offered you an in person interview and you declined...albeit for a very good reason. Perhaps they needed someone who was able to start quickly...obviously you would not have been able to do that.
They asked you to come in for an in person interview on April 3rd and you declined and asked for an alternative way of interviewing. Unfortunately, they don't owe you this. I don't think it matters if you were giving birth five days later, were sick or simply couldn't miss work in your current position....you couldn't make it.
It would be nice to know if you were officially eliminated but that's what I would assume at this point.
You sound very motivated and I'm sure will land the great position for you!!
no discrimination: you were unable to comply within their scheduling parameters, therefore you forfeited your chance at the job.
To pursue this further....does not enhance nor improve your options with the company.
As for their lack of response, unfortunately many companies do that now. Totally sucks.
Good luck on your job search!
Which means when you said you were pregnant and couldn't travel for an interview they moved on to the next candidate(s) and removed you from the options of possible candidates list.
It's not discrimination and in my opinion it's not rude either. It's one of those "don't call us, we'll call you" kind of situations. Which, with the job market the way it is now a days, is pretty common AND more efficient. If you haven't heard, you haven't gotten the job. Time to move on.
S.,
I seriously job hunted for a year after my position lost funding. What I learned is that many, many, employers just don't have any manners. I got over not hearing anything after resume submission - after all the average response to a job posting here was about 250 resumes. But, I still don't get employers not responding after an interview - be it via phone, Skype, or in person...because I did all of them. I also sent follow up emails, letters, or phone calls (whichever was appropriate) and in many cases just never ever heard anything back.
I don't think it is discrimination - just rude employers who are very much in a "buyers" market - and seem forget that the people they are being rude to today just may be the people who decide if their new employers will do business with them in the future.
Congrats on your new baby!!!
And good luck with the job search.
It is unprofessional but not illegal. You asked them to accommodate you and they don't have to. Sure the reason was because you are pregnant but that by proxy doesn't equal discrimination. They let you skype they have to let everyone skype because you are no longer comparing apples with apples. They don't have to do that.
That is not discrimination. Same exact thing happened to several of my friends who weren't pregnant. If you can't make the interview, your resume usually goes in the trash, no matter the reason. Most likely, this position has been filled or temporarily absorbed back to the staff until they find another candidate.
Not discrimination - there is nothing you can prove here at all. They just went on to the next acceptable candidate. They have lots of people to choose from, and you said you couldn't come for a one-on-one interview.
Please put this aside. They most probably already filled the position. Soon you'll be able to interview in person, and you won't have this eating at you.
It IS hard to job search when you are that far along. No two ways about it. It will be easier to do it now. And I promise that people who interview are just as rude and unprofessional to non-pregnant women and people in general as they were to you.
Good luck in your continuing job search!
Dawn
These days companies have such a high volume of applicants per job listing that it's rare to receive a call back if you aren't getting an offer.
I'm sure the fact that you were pregnant played into the situation - but -chances are they had to fill the position within a certain amount of time and you were not available within their time frame. It's a big no no to expect a company to work around your needs/schedule when you are interviewing for a job and unless you are a hot commodity you can't expect to get away with it.
I don't know how it could be considered discrimination if they didn't know you were pregnant. Did you mention it in your phone interview? Did you tell them the reason you couldn't come in for an in-person interview was because you were too pregnant to travel?
I can see how it could have been a turn-off to them to be told that you couldn't travel for an in-person interview. They might take it as a sign that you don't want the job that badly.
It was definitely unprofessional of them to not follow up to tell you whether or not you're still in the running. But that is all too common, and it usually has nothing to do with discrimination. They are waiting for someone else to accept their offer, they are totally disorganized, or the position is no longer available.
I always joke with my sister that she only interviews and gets newly hired when she is massively pregnant. She has done this three times now. She was always up front with her pregnancy, and she has never had a problem getting hired. Lucky her. I know this is usually not the case for most women.
Obviously, you are better off not working for that employer. Hopefully, you'll find something better when you move. Congratulations on your new baby!
I don't know what you could "do", they may have just chosen to not select you. Since they did not ask you about the baby influencing your working ability or what you would be planning on doing with the baby I think they perhaps decided to go with someone else.
Sounds like you may have found they aren't the place for you anyway.
Did you even tell them you were pregnant or just that you couldn't come in? Perhaps they didn't like the fact that you were unavailable?
It was rude however not to call you back even if the answer was no, we don't Skype.
Without any other details though, I don't see this as discrimination.
If they said to you "We are not hiring you because you are pregnant." then yes, they did something illegal. If they chose not to continue on with you in the interview process it might have been because being pregnant limited you from performing requirements of the job or that their timetable was faster moving than you were able to commit to. They shouldn't be so rude as to not call you back BUT they weren't illegal.
I applied for a job through the school district at the elementary school down the street. Not only did I get NO acknowledgment of them receiving my application and resume (I had to call them for that and the girl was so rude), but I never heard anything AT. ALL. I heard from a friend who subs at the school that the position was filled. It was a perfect position for me. I have tons of experience (it was a part time position in the library and working in libraries is all I've done in my adult life) and I can't believe i didn't even get a call to interview. Apparently I don't know the right people over at the school!
It's only discrimination if they KNEW you were pregnant (which I assumed you told them) and hence the reason they decided not to hire you. If you did not tell them, I am sure you would have gotten the job or a call back!
Based on your update, no. They didn't know you were pregnant, so what would they be discriminating against?
I read many but not all of the responses here... As someone who's been on the hiring side of things, I must be in the minority here. I don't believe that it is unprofessional but I do admit that it would be more polite to respond to every applicant. In most cases, that is simply not feasible... Two most common situations - the hiring manager is overssing the hiring for the job while managing all the usual parts of his or her job or an HR person is juggling several open positions, internal personnel moves, benefits questions, etc. Who knows if your pregnancy weighed into the decision at all, but I'm glad that you have moved on...
You can always try for the job in the future. Legally, they aren't allowed to ask if you are pregnant, but if you volunteered this information they can definitely utilize that in their decision making process. I think it's safe to say that if you're 38 weeks pregnant, you may not be available to go directly to work. Most Moms take at least 6 weeks off before returning to work. It just might not have made sense at that particular time to hire you.
I was applying for my dream job as I was ready to pop with my son... In my head, I really pictured myself popping out that baby and going to work. In reality, I wouldn't have been able to do that physically or emotionally. I had a C-section, etc.. and couldn't even drive for several weeks. However, I waited a year and got the internship when my son was 1 and I could handle it. So, you never know... You may get another shot if you really want that job.
