CAREERS NOW 02-28-07

Readers Weigh In On Fat Bias In Hiring

DEAR JOYCE: I have just read your column about obese workers. Thank you. I have been telling people about fat discrimination for years. I know there are jobs I applied for that I should have had but didn't get for that reason.

I am a very good worker and I have a strong work ethic, as well as an associate degree in computer info systems and a bachelor's in management. I have strong clerical skills. And over 30 years of work experience. The last four years I have been unemployed or working at temp jobs, the stress of which has effected my health.

If more employers would hire fat people maybe they wouldn't be fat anymore - they could relieve their weight by having bills under control and afford to get a gym membership.

I know I can't prove fattism discrimination anymore than I could prove racism. But I have worked in a place where the older and fatter people were let go from their jobs, each with a trumped up reason - mine was "making mistakes." I was there for nearly three years and suddenly I'm making mistakes? Other older and overweight people were let go too.

What really happened, according to our young and slim replacements, is that the company was hiring young inexperienced college students to work part time; at orientation they were told that the old, fat workers (who were making pretty good money) were being filtered out.

Well, America, if you won't hire us, what's left - put us on disability and support us? - D.R.

DEAR JOYCE: Your fattism column made the writer sound like a victim, which may be true in his or her eyes, but what about the employer's point of view? Potential employees and promotional candidates are at a disadvantage when their physical appearance promotes the likelihood that they will be statistically more prone to absenteeism and chronic health problems.

The same holds true for smokers and others who exhibit a threat to increased costs. While anyone of us can be stuck down with a chronic and debilitating health problem resulting in lost time and productivity, when making a hiring or promotion decision, increased risk factors are hard to overlook. - R.S.

My recent column about fattism as the last bastion of discrimination in the American workplace struck a chord with readers. These two opposing letters exemplify their sentiments, suggesting no quick resolution to the controversy. As I said, I don't expect change in the issue unless new statutes are passed classifying fattism with other bias bans on "isms" like racism, ageism and sexism.

DEAR JOYCE: I just graduated from college with my bachelor's in psychology. I am looking for a job, any job. When I read postings for employment (job ads), I notice that they require two years' experience or more. How are people supposed to find a job when there are no entry-level jobs round? You can't get any experience if nobody gives you a chance to gain some. How do you get around this problem? - K.T.

You should have used internships while a college student to anticipate the looming no-experience barrier. But moving forward, I advise you to forget about taking "any" job. Bad move. Instead, if the rent's due, register with several temporary agencies while you straighten out your future. You will later tell prospective employers that you were surveying career fields. Quick tips:

- The time is here for your next life decision. What'll it be - career A or career B? Read career exploration advice on a top Web site, quintcareers.com, manned by respected college educator Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.

- Start looking for employment once you've identified several kinds of work you'd prefer doing. If you can afford it (you may have to work without pay), ask your alma mater's career center for help in arranging a postgraduate internship in your favorite prospective field.

Learn how to network your way around brick walls. Find out how to write an effective self-marketing document - a resume. Become acquainted with a specialty Web site, collegegrad.com, for advice and rookie jobs. Look on my Web site, sunfeatures.com, for a column I wrote last year titled "Career Road Maps for Liberal Arts Grads." It has lots of examples of how others solved your problem.

You're lucky that 2007 is forecast to be a banner year for newly-minted college graduates. So hustle before you have to compete with the June crop.

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