Recruiter asking for picture

[WTFH]

I don't see how having a photo really protects you from someone using a bogus CV - or are you suggesting there's a lot of people out there doing interviews on behalf of others? Surely a Panorama episode should be in the works for that story!

It still seems like an unnecessary legal risk to me to ask for a photo. Surely an ID, birth certificate and voting record would suffice?

OK, so a few others in this thread have made comments about people turning up at interviews who were not the person to be offered a contract.


So, set down your copy of the daily mail and explain to me the legal risk. Also, explain how a non-photographic ID would provide any protection against it?


Back to the earlier comments... you are a contractor now. Put yourself in the client's position...
The client is looking to get the best contractor to come in and fulfil their business requirements. They need someone who is capable and can deliver. They then pay a premium to get that person. Why pay a permie/FTC around £40,000 a year when you can pay a contractor the same in 4 months?
The reason they pay is for the experience, knowledge and ability to get on with it.


They are not going to waste their time on someone who doesn't know their stuff.
So, how do you make sure - without wasting loads of time - that the people you interview are the people you end up taking on?
Simple - photo with CV. Photo matches person sitting in front of you at the interview. Photo matches the person who turns up on day 1.


If you are concerned that HR and IT managers in large companies are going to be racist then maybe contracting isn't for you. Next will you be suggesting that interviews are written so that people don't hear your accent in case they don't employ you because of that.

[MrMarkyMark]

They are not going to waste their time on someone who doesn't know their stuff.

Always worked for me, over the last 16 years, guess I just got lucky

[seanraaron]

If you are concerned that HR and IT managers in large companies are going to be racist then maybe contracting isn't for you. Next will you be suggesting that interviews are written so that people don't hear your accent in case they don't employ you because of that.

I'm not quite sure how you've come to the conclusion that I'm a Daily Mail reader, but I think you've misunderstood me. I'm not suggesting that there's a risk to me as a contractor about sending in a photo, I'm saying that if I was a hiring manager or HR person at a company I wouldn't want to take the risk of requesting a photo lest I/the company be accused of racial profiling. Being originally from one of the most litigious countries on earth, I can tell you that no one would bother. Asking marital status also went out of fashion there decades before the UK. I was pretty shocked to find that on applications when I moved here in 2001...

[MrMarkyMark]

I'm not quite sure how you've come to the conclusion that I'm a Daily Mail reader, but I think you've misunderstood me. I'm not suggesting that there's a risk to me as a contractor about sending in a photo, I'm saying that if I was a hiring manager or HR person at a company I wouldn't want to take the risk of requesting a photo lest I/the company be accused of racial profiling. Being originally from one of the most litigious countries on earth, I can tell you that no one would bother. Asking marital status also went out of fashion there decades before the UK. I was pretty shocked to find that on applications when I moved here in 2001

On here, everyone's a Mail reader until proven otherwise.

GB PLC, like plenty of useless information to be present and correct on everything.
Have you ever seen the forms we created when we colonised India, they still use them most places, there

[WTFH]

I'm not quite sure how you've come to the conclusion that I'm a Daily Mail reader, but I think you've misunderstood me. I'm not suggesting that there's a risk to me as a contractor about sending in a photo, I'm saying that if I was a hiring manager or HR person at a company I wouldn't want to take the risk of requesting a photo lest I/the company be accused of racial profiling. Being originally from one of the most litigious countries on earth, I can tell you that no one would bother. Asking marital status also went out of fashion there decades before the UK. I was pretty shocked to find that on applications when I moved here in 2001...

Marital status doesn't mean you can send one person to an interview and not another.


Racial profiling is done by idiots, e.g. GWB or The donald. Good business practice employs contractors based on their merit. If you seriously believe that the one thing a client looks for in a contractor is a particular skin colour, then you've got a lot to learn about contracting.


Remember - the client is taking a contractor on because they need the skillset of that contractor. If the client takes on someone based on skin colour bias then they won't end up with as good a contractor, so the work will take longer and cost more money.


The whole point of the interview is to find someone who can deliver the required results and that person will be paid a lot of money to do so.
A bogus CV will be found out at an interview.
A bogus contractor will be found out if they are physically a different person to the picture sent before the interview.

[seanraaron]

Racial profiling is done by idiots, e.g. GWB or The donald. Good business practice employs contractors based on their merit. If you seriously believe that the one thing a client looks for in a contractor is a particular skin colour, then you've got a lot to learn about contracting.

Tell that to the people of Arab descent who get told a job is filled when they show up for a face-to-face interview in France after having their CV accepted. It would be nice to think that the business world is totally colour-blind, but it's run by people, who aren't necessarily so. Maybe it's a timing thing. In my mind if you're asking for photos before you're setting an interview date then that seems a bit funny.

[WTFH]

Tell that to the people of Arab descent who get told a job is filled when they show up for a face-to-face interview in France after having their CV accepted. It would be nice to think that the business world is totally colour-blind, but it's run by people, who aren't necessarily so. Maybe it's a timing thing. In my mind if you're asking for photos before you're setting an interview date then that seems a bit funny.

Really?


Can you provide links to these examples? And remember, we're talking about IT contracting here, not FTC/employees, as we'd all like to know who the companies are who do this.


Name and shame.

[WTFH]

Oh, and most clients will google their prospects before interviewing, or just check on linkedin.

Does what's on LI match the CV?


A few years ago I remember seeing a copy of my CV which had been sent to the client. My name had been removed and anything that might imply my gender.
That way the client only had the words on the page to rely on.


Written words are the easiest thing to make up. Face to face things change.

[seanraaron]

Really?


Can you provide links to these examples? And remember, we're talking about IT contracting here, not FTC/employees, as we'd all like to know who the companies are who do this.


Name and shame.

Nothing off the top, but I remember seeing a BBC story about it some years ago. In the past it was people with Arab-sounding names getting told jobs were filled that weren't. Then people started using a French-name on the CV; when the interviewer saw they weren't white, boom, no job. Now there are studies about discrimination against Muslims in France, but race is harder to pin down because officially it doesn't exist due to official attitudes re: The Republic.

Here's an interesting opinion piece from the Guardian.

And another article from a site referencing the Le Monde journalist who wrote a groundbreaking piece. Granted these are a few years old, but I rather doubt racism in France has been magically resolved since then.

All I'm saying is if I had a "foreign-sounding" name and was asked for a photo prior to an interview being scheduled, I'd rightly wonder if it was a factor. As an employer I'd shy away from giving that appearance.

[TheFaQQer]

Back to the earlier comments... you are a contractor now.

Oi, admin! Can we have an "optimistic" rating to go with "thanks" and "like"?

Ta