I recently had a long conversion with one of best friends regarding her job/internship search. She told me some facts about employer (recruiters) from different companies. They are extra careful about who they are bringing in. In engineering, it is really hard for a women to convince the recruiters that they are the best in their field. As this field, is man dominating. All this seems to be still fine but when she said she should have thought hard before taking a decision to wear hijab. because employer don’t think a hijabi can perform well in a manufacturing environment. she said she met a recruiter who was openly talking to her. and told her that all these questions like, wearing loose clothes and working with man employers are major concerns when an hijabis come for an interview.
I am currently looking for an engineering position. I can see the difference when I go for an interview. A year back (when I wasn’t wearing hijab) I got so many interviews/ job offers solely based on my resume/ interview skills. But now, I would have everything perfect and they would reject me. I am not sure, if this thinking is correct. I am still in a refusal that this could happen. After talking to her made me think about it more and more. Am I just going crazy or this is true?
It can be true, after all bias does exist and has increased for muslims from what I read.
But the job market is pretty bad too, so while you may be qualified and a stellar candidate, you dont know who else is interviewing for that role.
I have heard and read many horror stories in main stream media about how job market is and how people who were on the top are accepting minimum rate jobs as they have families to feed and raise.
Allah maaf karay.
Yes , I agree with X2 , bias doest exist , but I think your situation might have more to do with the Market downturn ... there are many many qualified people out there who are out of job and are struggling with their careers ... When this happens , the competition in the market increases and that can effect the way employers look for candidates.
Nevertheless , good luck with your search , keep looking and I am sure your hardwork will pay off, inshallah.