Hi everyone,I had an interview for junior trader position in an investment company in Toronto.In the first round I was asked various questions like: age, citizenship, military service, parents and siblings occupation and many other. I wanted the position badly so I answered them. Today I got a negative reply, though I was gestured by other people in the company that I fit them well.WHAT SHOULD I DO?

there are no illegal questions, only ungiven answers. During the course of an interview you freely drawn the line between what the company must know about you and what you don´t want to share with the company. However, "age, citizenship, military service, parents and siblings occupation" can have an impact on how well you do perform for them, since these factors can affect your working hours. It doesn´t seem a drama to give answers to those questions I guess, what´s wrong with that?

Those questions lead to discrimination. The gact that I did not derve in my home country does not meant I can not do the job!

I can´t see any discrimination here. If you were working on behalf of the company would you hire someone with a busy personal schedule?... I wonder....

Sorry but what parent occupation got anythnig to do with whether you can do this job or not???

QuoteOriginally posted by: SierpinskyJanitorI can´t see any discrimination here. If you were working on behalf of the company would you hire someone with a busy personal schedule?... I wonder....Whatever I do in my personal life is my personal business. I meet the job requierments-Thats what important!

with that attitude, you´ll be going through screening processes for life! No manager will tolerate that. You should try some other business.

Quoteby other people in the company that I fit them well.The first question I wonder is how can you be so sure that you have been discriminated? What makes you think that the fact that "other people in the company told you that you fit them well" is a sure sign that you should have had the job? Maybe you suited them well, but they also found someone else at the end of the round who suited them even better.. Who knows? And are you sure that those people were objective, and they didn't speak to you in those terms because it was the easiest thing to say to avoid the hassle to have to explain themselves?I don't know anything of your background, so I've to believe that you have been incorrectly discriminated.Still, I've a thought... if I have the chance of employing someone I like to know that we think in somehow that is similar, and asking some of the questions that you consider personal is just a way to see how much affinity there is.Two examples... once I had to interview a guy, and I didn't like the fact that he didn't specify his age on his CV. The reason for me wanting to know, is that from the CV, it wasn't clear how long it took to him to get his degree. Had I asked him (I was suggested not to ask), I wouldn't have done so to discriminate on his age, but only to have a better idea on his skills... Another example... Many fellow Italians of my age opted out of the compulsory military service not because they honestly rejected war and violence, but because they could have worked in some public organisation, close to home, 9to5 job and the possibility often to study while there. Since I did my service with the idea of serving my country, i tend to think of these kind of "objectors" as people who tried to be smart taking advantage of the system. In my mind, if someone takes advantage of the system once, their way of thinking might justify being "smart" again, maybe the day when I'm working with them and I mostly need their commitment and loyality.So if two persons seem to be equally skilled, I'd rather go for the one who did serve his stint, because I'd feel I can trust them more.Would I be discriminatory if I asked such a question ?gc

Of course it is not a fact that I was discriminated!But I believe that the fact that I did not serve the army has nothing to do with the job. You might be right that you can trust the guy who served, but that being a criteria for giring? I do not think so!

Of course it is not a fact that I was discriminated!But I believe that the fact that I did not serve the army has nothing to do with the job. You might be right that you can trust the guy who served, but that being a criteria for giring? I do not think so!

QuoteTwo examples... once I had to interview a guy, and I didn't like the fact that he didn't specify his age on his CV. The reason for me wanting to know, is that from the CV, it wasn't clear how long it took to him to get his degree.gc,pardon my ignorance, but what has skills to do with how long does one take to get a degree? i might have other 100 interests in my life apart from school (not mentioning things I cant control, like illness ...), forcing me to go to school longer and still get a distinction!your question would not only be discriminative, but narrowminded as well

QuoteOriginally posted by: SierpinskyJanitorI can´t see any discrimination here. If you were working on behalf of the company would you hire someone with a busy personal schedule?... I wonder....If asked one's age during an interview - you don't see the potential for age discrimination? A 45 yo has a better, more applicable background for a position than does a 25 yo fresh out from school. The 25 yo is cheaper and more likely to be hired - is that not age discrimination?

QuoteOriginally posted by: QuantOptionQuotepardon my ignorance, but what has skills to do with how long does one take to get a degree? i might have other 100 interests in my life apart from school (not mentioning things I cant control, like illness ...), forcing me to go to school longer and still get a distinction!Your are absolutely right... The Italian university system is very different from the English one... In the English system people generally get their degree in three or four years. Exams cannot be taken twice, so in some cases one can get his degree with very low marks or even failing one or two exams... The caveaut is that the pass level is much lower and the selection is small in English universities... The brightness of a student is therefore measured by their mark. In the Italian system, one only has to pass a set of exams without a time limit. An exam can be taken as many times as required until the student passes it, which often means that the pass thresholds can be higher, but then you can have someone getting full marks maybe twenty years later... So in a way the time to achieve the diploma is as important as the final mark)...In my case I haven't managed to get my degree in the four years of legal length of the degree.. a bit because I enjoied some of my student days, and a lot because I had lots of different interests too.Only sometime you get someone who get his degree ten or twelve years after enrolling, even without doing any work in the meantime... I think that if someone takes 5 or 6 years instead of 4, it might be because of other interests.... If one takes 10, they are probably lazy ... which is why I would have wanted to know, to ask the guy what was the reason... But this doesn't seem to be allowed...Quoteyour question would not only be discriminative, but narrowminded as well Let's hope not... but you may have a point... gc

You need to research the employment and discrimination laws in individual countries. Canada may be slightly different from the UK may be different from the US. You also need to be careful not to blame these laws as the reason you did not get the job. Frankly there may have been someone better qualified than you to do this particular job. Just keep going forward .

QuoteOriginally posted by: danielbogodHi everyone,I had an interview for junior trader position in an investment company in Toronto.In the first round I was asked various questions like: age, citizenship, military service, parents and siblings occupation and many other. As every selection process, in a job interview the interviewer has to discriminate and pick the one who can do the job.Dont you discriminate when you pick a girlfriend? I bet you do on multiple criteria, unless your standards are close to zero and you are an "anything the broomer gets" lad. Some more comments below...Age: I think you should have this info on your CV. In anyway the right answer in this question is only inside your interviewer's head. Citizenship: Who is looking for trouble with immigration offices?Military service: Having fullfilled my military obligations recently I can assure you that this is a valuable experience on many aspects. There is no need to analyze this further. Now i can confess that i prefer to work with guys who have spent some time in uniform. Parents occupation: This may indicate a lot of things too. One is you ambitions. Another one is your professional personality and character. Kids are likely to follow professions similar to their parents. I dont mean the typical cases of dentist's or attorney's son who will try to become a dentist or attorney to just to inherit dad's clientele. I mean for example kids of parents with entrepreneurial jobs are likely to thrieve in similar types of jobs. On the contrary if your parents had a sort of "risk free" public sector job probably you may have inherrited their risk aversion.