A first-hand account of discrimination

The purpose of this page is to give a review of my experience with 'Testing Circle'.

 

Testing Circle is a small IT recruitment company headquartered in London, England. Back in early August 2014, I stumbled across a job advertisement from the company for a software testing role. I felt happy at the fact that the role didn't require a degree qualification (despite having a 2.1 IT degree), free training would be provided and that I would greatly flourish in this role. Hence, I thought this would be a great opportunity to enhance my technical skills and untimely contribute to organisational profitability. Bear in mind that I was going through a tough spell; in terms of my health, family and financial situation. I knew that landing this job would alleviate this troublesome spell. Thus, I seized the opportunity by applying for the job.
 

A few days later, the company invited me for an assessment day at their headquarters. I told them about my slight stammering impediment and then explicitly asked if excellent verbal skills were necessary to even be considered for the post. They responded by averring that such a speech disability would not make me any less valuable, indicating that they would be willing to hire someone with such a disability. Admittedly, I did not feel assured that I would probably land the job (due to personal problems intimated above, including depression and the competition I was facing). Nevertheless, I knew that this brilliant opportunity was not worth ignoring, hence I accepted the invitation.

The morning of the assessment day. I woke up and unfortunately felt physically sick (stomach pains) as well as negative thoughts about how the assessment day would fare. I felt depressed about my life in general, and over the improbability of securing the job despite my academic standing and skill set. I knew what it was like to endure rejection. I had been constantly denied employment for IT-related jobs beforehand, not to mention jobs that required no experience! I didn't want to experience rejection yet again for a job I felt that I was patently suitable for.


My desire to land this job did not prevent me attending the assessment day (even though I was physically and mentally unwell). I was under a lot of pressure to perform well, knowing that my personal problems would curtail, should I land the job. In hindsight, the wisest thing I should have done was rearrange the appointment. Even then, the company may not have accepted a request to rearrange the appointment, relative to my knowledge (or lack thereof) at the time.

Having punctually reached the location, I knew the events scheduled. I was to engage in a test, presentation and interview. I was hoping that I might feel a little better before engaging in these activities, but I didn't, sadly. The first activity was the test. The fact I was not well (physically and mentally) impacted my performance. I didn't think that I flunked the test, but also didn't think that I scored a high mark.


Next up on the agenda was the presentation. I was to give a presentation on a  software related issue to a group of about 4-6 people. When I began the presentation, my stammer was worse than normal, owing to my lack of wellness. I felt greatly embarrassed and awkward, and this exacerbated my verbal fluency. During the presentation, I noticed that the onlookers were not pleased at my performance through their body language. I felt that they disliked me and perceived me as a weird joke. Likewise, this exacerbated my speech. After the presentation, I was relieved that it was finally over. I couldn't believe how uneasy I felt during the ordeal and how they reacted to my effort to present.

The interview was next. At this point, I felt mentally despondent but realised there was light at the end of the tunnel. I thought I might be able to change the interviewers' initial perceptions of me by flourishing in the interview. The pressure was saddled upon me like crazy. Two people conducted the interview. Sadly, the interview was a disaster. Worse than a tragic ending to a heart shattering movie. Even though the content I relayed was sufficiently good, the way I relayed the content was disfluent. The interviewers kept viewing me weirdly and making gestures indicative of their dissatisfaction of me (i.e. folded arms, glazed expressions, etc). Such feelings I elicited aggravated my concentration, speech and ability to quickly think of effective answers to questions they posed to me.

 

When the interview was over, the assessment day came to a close. My embarrassment and dismay was stretched to the breaking point, so I couldn't wait to go home perchance that I might feel better. What I gathered from the whole experience the most was the negative perception they had of me. The way the onlookers in the presentation and interviewers in the interview expressed their thoughts via their body language was a sign to me that they were interested in rejecting me for the job. According to body language experts (i.e. Allan Pease), one's body language accurately reflects one's attitude, regardless of the verbal content expressed. Thus, I knew how they felt of me throughout the interview, so made a pessimistic (albeit realistic) predication that they would immediately decline my application and thus separate me from the post in perpetuity.


A few days after the assessment day, the company notified me that my application was declined. This broke my heart and made me feel more poignant than ever before. At the time, I was keen to explicitly hear all the reasons they had for refusing me. After inquiring for feedback, I was told that they were happy to give feedback and that their policy stated that I had to wait 2 weeks to receive it. After painfully waiting two weeks like an idiot (thinking they would give me feedback), no feedback was forthcoming. At this point, I contacted the company in the hope that they would give me feedback. No response. At this stage, I knew that even if I were to apply for future roles, they would probably never consider shortlisting or recruitment me due to their incapability providing feedback. How rude and unprofessional of them!

It dawned on me why they didn't give feedback. It was due to the speech disability that prevented them from proceeding with my application, and they probably did not want me to know this, because discriminating against someone due to a disability is illegal. I could comprehend their feelings about my speech during the assessment day, and the lack of feedback confirmed that they had no interest in recruiting one with the foregoing disability. I asked myself: "What is the most plausible justification that precluded them from giving me feedback (despite supposedly having a policy that says feedback will be offered within the two weeks)?" Throughout my whole experience, the best explanation is that they discriminated against me on the grounds of my speech disability and they thought that if they provided me feedback relating to my speech, I may have sought legal aid against them and the reputation of the company could have been damaged. This is probably why no feedback was given.

I also thought: "If I was discriminated against on the grounds of my speech disability, what would be the course of action that they would most likely take?" Exactly. The course of action they would peruse is to refrain from giving me feedback. They fail to realise that if they gave me feedback explaining that my speech was the reason they did not take my application further, I would have applauded their honesty and not sought legal aid against them. But alas, I felt troubled that they decided to pursue the tack of failing to offer feedback. I haven't and will not seek legal aid against them.
 

What troubled me even more is the fact that their website is bereft of an Equal Opportunity policy. Surely, if the company did have such a policy, they would be smart enough to let people know about it on their site (just like their competitors do), to assure applicants that they are (in theory, at least) an equal opportunity company. Hence, the absence of such a policy on their site makes it more probable than not that they are not an equal opportunity company.
 

But notice, even if they had such a policy, so what? All this would show is that in theory, they aim not to discriminate. It wouldn't do anything whatsoever to show that they are in practise an equal opportunity company and that they have never discriminated. The existence of a company policy no more prevents some employees from secretly violating it than the existence of a legislative policy prevents some people from secretly violating it. There exist good reasons (mentioned above) that they're not an equal opportunity company in theory and in practise. Since I know one example of their discrimination, just think about the possible undetected cases of discrimination involving them.


Notice the internal inconsistencies of the company:
 

1. They initially indicated that they are happy to take on one with a stammering disability for this job. But yet, this is the most plausible reason they denied my application and failed to give feedback! If I were involved in the decision to withhold feedback after assuring it, I would be incredibly embarrassed and ashamed.
    
2. They maintained that their OWN policy states that feedback will be given to applicants within two weeks of receiving the assessment day outcome. They failed to adhere to their policy by not giving me feedback. Since they don't even follow their OWN policy, why would they care to adhere to legislative policies (i.e. the Equal Opportunity Act) if they believe they can escape detection? Why feel confident that they won't secretly violate legislative policies when they sadly failed to follow their OWN policy?
    
3. This company frequently hold social events for their employees. It is astonishing that they have time to arrange and participate in such events (even though they contribute NOTHING to organisational profitability), yet they don't make time to produce and publish policies that show their conformance to the law!
    

 

Never in my life have I been assured feedback only to be refused it. As egregious as this is, it possibly happens more than can be proven. I was upset for the absence of feedback, but over time, such a feeling has vanished. Realistically, I knew what feedback to expect if it was given to me, hence I don't feel the desire of asking for it yet again. It is truly disappointing that the company have failed their responsibility in this regard for the reason they are hiding. I am not disappointed for the lack of feedback, but simply the reason for not giving it. It is my hope that Testing Circle can change themselves and shift real priorities to the forefront and treat others fairly if they aim to thrive in the cut-throat world of business.