I find it personally helpful to get points of data like this.
Living in Switzerland, the cultural standards are sometimes astonishingly different between countries (e.g. I still regularly see job application forms that require both a headshot of the candidate and a date of birth).
Sometimes, when I can tell during a hiring process that it's just not working out, I do ask companies why they ask for a photo and a date of birth.
The answers generally are:
- "We've always done it this way" - Well sorry to hear that, but that's not a reason
- "Everybody does it this way" - Well, I'm a candidate and I can tell you that no, only 10% of companies are doing it this way
- "We want to get a first impression of the person before we invest time to look at them closer" - The first step in your application process is a 15min call with an HR person. Do you really need a step before that to reject someone based on age or ethnicity or gender?
So far, no one has reacted with any kind of understanding.
I find it personally helpful to get points of data like this.
Living in Switzerland, the cultural standards are sometimes astonishingly different between countries (e.g. I still regularly see job application forms that require both a headshot of the candidate and a date of birth).