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Job Interview - questions
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| Kamka |
| Has anybody ever been to a supposedly formal interview where they were asked personal political opinions or beliefs with phrases such as "What are your views on…?" or personally identifiable information such as "Where are you from?" followed by "How long have you have you been in Canada?" and then "How much is 'very long'"? Did anyone ever experience being engaged in an ideologically based discussion on socio-political views and been told things such as "Canadian values are not good enough/wrong" or "there is institutionalised racism and oppression in Canada" or "we all have biases, you and me; we are born biased; we just have to become aware of it to deal with it" during what they expected to be a formal interview process? Do you think this is normal and acceptable? |
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| Abercrombie |
My company (very large) has very strict policies against asking any of those questions. A large company with lots of money is one that would be taken advantage of if a kind of prospect would perposely try to engage in such conversation for the primary purpose of suing the company, and eventually accepting a settlement. It can be quite lucrative going after companies with naive or inexperienced interviewers. The risks for my company are way to great to venture in this area.
However, smaller companies don't have as strict HR policies, and small business have none. Then again, smaller companies are more difficult to sue as the payout isn't there.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission go very much in depth in regards to discrimination. http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca/default-en.asp |
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| endless_summer |
NO!
however I would really like to know what is the position/organization, it just might justify the questions, i can think of one case where these questions could possibly be asked |
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| Blizwar2 |
if you are applying for a job in a social services division I can see it, or to work on a campaign for a politician.
Then again, i don't know Canadian law, but in the US they can't ask those questions, or if they do they are supposedly "Off record". And how are you gonna prove it anyways? |
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| malek |
Hell noooooo!
Unless you're applying to some kind of policy making (lobbying) involved position/organization...
I would have left the interview or asked right away what it has to do with the job!!
edit: I too am very curious to know what company/position you were applying for! |
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| endless_summer |
| quote: | Originally posted by malek
edit: I too am very curious to know what company/position you were applying for! |
same here! can you please give us some more info what type of organization this is and what they do? |
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| Kamka |
Hi people
Thanks for your responses :)
This was for an ESL-teaching job in a LINC ("Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada") program, which is basically an ESL-program for new immigrants, sponsored and funded by the Federal Government of Canada (maybe Ministry of Education, I'm guessing).
The person who was asking most of these questions was a very-high placed offical in one specific location/school in Toronto. |
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| Kamka |
| ... which is also why I find it rather interesting that she made claims such as that there is "institutionalised racism" here, or that "Canadian values are not good enough/wrong" (I can't remember the exact wording she used now, so I wanna give her the benefit of the doubt; neverthelesss, the statment she made was an assertion of this in no uncertain terms). |
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| endless_summer |
| yes, i can totally see these questions as appropriate to ask for this type of job, since it is a government sponsored program they want to make sure that a person who is teaching newcomers is also teaching them ideals and principles Canada stands for |
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| Kamka |
| quote: | Originally posted by endless_summer
yes, i can totally see these questions as appropriate to ask for this type of job, since it is a government sponsored program they want to make sure that a person who is teaching newcomers is also teaching them ideals and principles Canada stands for |
Yes, but she specifically said at one point that "Canadian values are wrong!!" You're f---ing kidding me? And this was when I replied to one of her questions that "I would try to explain to the students the Canadian values..." <---- that was my reply... |
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| Kamka |
| ^^^ that was my reply as an answer to a question of hers about what I would do if there was some conflict between different cultural or national groups (i.e. if there was a Palestinian vs. Israeli student who were arguing). I didn't comment on her statement that "Canadian values are wrong; there is institutionalised racism here, ..." after that. That's just to clarify. |
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| Ania_xox |
| quote: | Originally posted by Kamka
Hi people
Thanks for your responses :)
This was for an ESL-teaching job in a LINC ("Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada") program, which is basically an ESL-program for new immigrants, sponsored and funded by the Federal Government of Canada (maybe Ministry of Education, I'm guessing).
The person who was asking most of these questions was a very-high placed offical in one specific location/school in Toronto. |
I worked as a one-on-one ESL tutor with LINC for 2 years.
I wasn't asked these questions directly (you are right to question this process... it seems a bit weird) however, I know that this organization has a solid screening process in terms of who they hire to work with their students. They want people who have been exposed to situations in which they have had to deal with immigrants suffering from cultural dislocation. They basically need to see that you can handle various scenarios that might arise in this specific field of teaching (example: one of the students gets extremely frustrated because he or she has a medical degree in their home country, but here they are struggling to get a job in retail). They want to make sure you can handle what's coming - because in addition to teaching the english language, you will also be responsible for providing support and promoting a sense of belonging in the classroom.
LOL hope I'm not scaring you :toocool: it's a lot of fun
you can PM me if you have any questions ^_^ |
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