So I work as a manager and like everyone, everywhere, we're hiring.
My boss calls me and tells me he needs me to do an interview for him for a call center agent. I look at the CV and it's pretty good. Lots of experience in what we need. But he says he needs to talk to me first. I'll type out the convo since I think it will have more impact.
Boss: So, this one's different. He has a record.
Rooster: Like, a criminal record?
B: Yes. He self disclosed that he has a record. So unfortunately we already know we're not going to take him.
R: Okay…..(Note that I have never ran across this situation before.
B: So we're gonna do this a bit different. You know the drill. Introduce the company. Get to know his experience and strengths. How he deals with hot callers. The usual. Unfortunately we're not going to take him because of his record.
R: You already know you're not going to take him? But I'm still doing the interview? Why would I do an interview?
B: Yes well he got through the screening process so we have to do the interview. We're going to interview him and reject him for not being a right fit.
R: But what if the interview is great. Look at this guy's CV. He could be a really good candidate.
B: Unfortunately there's nothing I can do, the company has been burned before so we don't hire anyone with a record anymore.
R: I'm not going to do it.
B: What?
R: I'm not interviewing this guy. Find someone else to interview him or cancel it or something. I'm not going to pretend we might hire him when we're really not. That's not right. That completely goes against my morals.
B: We can't risk any issues. It's been a problem before.
R: So? We don't know what his record is. For all we know he could have gotten into a bar fight when he was 18. Guy doesn't deserve to be refused jobs for that. Has nothing to do with our business.
B: Okay. I'll move stuff around. Don't worry about it I understand.
R: ….. Alright.
I had a really sour taste in my mouth after this. So I looked it up, and of course this is illegal where I live. You can't discriminate against convicts or those with criminal records. Rightfully fucking so obviously. Small company or big. I know so many get away with this. Fuck companies.