Discrimination comes in all shapes and sizes.
“Sometimes I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can anyone deny themselves of the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me.”
Zora Neale Hurston
Over the last decade equality in the workplace has been a key focus, a topic we’re hard pushed to ignore. Whether that be gender equality, maintaining the right ethnic mix or ensuring those with disabilities are given a fair chance. The term we are an equal opportunities employer now seems the norm.
I guess I’ve been lucky, during my 49 years I can honestly say that I’ve never experienced any form of this discrimination. But I’ve noticed over the last six months I’ve been asked this one question over and over again “You’re an accomplished woman but as a woman of colour, you must find it difficult in the boardroom?”
Should I be outraged by this question? The insinuation that somehow the colour of my skin or my gender should impact my ability to command a room? Maybe, but I’m not. However, I’d be lying if I said each time I heard it I wasn’t surprised. I have a mirror, the colour of my skin has not escaped me, nor has the fact that I am a woman, I genuinely don’t believe any of these things have ever held me back nor will I let them.
Yes, I have had to overcome the perception of my age. Blessed with good genes (thank you grandmother), I’m lucky enough to look younger than my years, but this hasn’t always served me well in the boardroom, in fact if anything I’ve had to work twice as hard to make myself heard & ensure that I build a reputation that proceeds me. I’m proud to have accomplished that.
So, imagine my surprise when a headhunter recently suggested I take my picture off my CV. The perplexed look on my face clearly gave away my horror at being asked to do such a thing. Now I’m open to do whatever it takes to secure a contract, but I had to ask why, why should I take my picture off? What was wrong with the picture I had used, that I should remove it? The answer was somewhat surprising. The headhunter simply replied, we want them to hire you based on your experience, not on what you look like.
All this did was make me laugh, because all he’d proved is both gender and age discrimination still exist, but he’d totally overlooked a new wave of discrimination, one caused by the pandemic. We’re all so busy shouting about how we’re hard done by as ethnic minorities and females, that we haven’t even realised that something much bigger has hit us. It’s not the sort of discrimination we’re shouting at the top of our voices about. It’s not tied to our appearance, the colour of our skin, our gender or even our age. No, this sort of discrimination is not immediate, nor can the naked eye spot it, well not unless you’re looking at someone’s CV. We’ve officially entered the era of being discriminated against for being overqualified.
The last few years have certainly been tough on many, I’ve seen some of my most accomplished, overachieving colleagues question their abilities and worth, taking jobs just to pay the bills, that quite frankly they could do in their sleep. Why? Because it would seem in an economy heavily hit by a pandemic you can be overqualified for pretty much everything in life, especially if the person hiring you isn’t as experienced as you.
I would be lying if I said this was something that I had only witnessed from afar, no. I too have been on the receiving end of this idiosyncrasy. It would appear for a role that is temporary, with no permanency in sight I am ‘overqualified’. If it wasn’t such a serious problem, it really would be laughable. So, what is this really about?
Put simply our Egos are winning. The industries which we cut our teeth on and loved so much are full of insecurity. Filled with groups of people with bigger ego’s than they’d care to admit. Thinking the person next to them may show them up. Instead of focusing on the positives.
I’ve seen this happen time & time again over the last year. An Agency puts out a 4-week contract for an Account Director with a reasonable day rate. A Junior Account Director, Group Account Director or God forbid a Board Director apply for the role. Who do they choose? The person who is just about qualified to do the role or the person who has bags of experience. Spoiler alert, it isn’t the latter.
At a time of hybrid working, surely it is advantageous to give the role to the person who doesn’t need their hand holding and can hit the ground running? If the person who is clearly overqualified doesn’t have a problem with taking the role, why does the person hiring them have an issue?
Maybe it’s time, we took a long hard look at ourselves, the industries we work in. and realise what we could gain from employing the overqualified. Will they get bored? Maybe. But more importantly they’ll contribute to your personal growth and the success of your business. Surely in an economy that is trying to get back on its feet and regain some form of normality this works in our favour?
I often ask myself whether I too was this person when I hired people for my Agency? I’m proud to say that thankfully I’ve never thought this way. When I ran teams in some of the biggest agencies in London or even when I ran my albeit small marketing agency, I never discriminated based on any of the above. I recruited people on their tenacity, their talent and their fit for my agency. If they didn’t have a problem working for me. I didn’t have a problem hiring them, whether it be a short or long-term hire.
As a nation, now more than ever those overqualified resources can help us rebuild. I truly hope the economy shows the right signs of picking up and as a nation we learn to keep our egos at bay because there’s never been a more important time for us all to pull together.
Let’s not let our insecurities get the better of us.
Nice to see another work related article. You’re spot on Suki. Only thing i would add is how this makes people feel. It’s like falling from such a height, debilitating even.