There is an article on the Daily Mail website today, written by a larger lady with a great CV who has had over a hundred interviews for jobs she is suited for and yet hasn't been employed for. From impressions and reactions she has recieved compared to other females (and perhaps males?) who were interviewing for the same role, she has come to the conclusion her weight is what is stopping her finding a job.

Could this be the case?

There are a lot more people out there looking for work then there actually is job vacancies so unfortunately it's a dog eat dog world when it comes to employment in this current climate. Does that then give employers the luxury of being over picky when it comes to who they employ?

My worry when applying for jobs is my age, not of course that I am too old but that I could be seen to be of the age where I am looking to start a family. Any employer would be able to see that my email address is different to my name at the top of the CV which means more likely than not that I am married. Also, in my personal interests where if I were a parent I would mention my children perhaps, I obviously haven't. Now, the name change could also be down to divorce but they would look at my date of birth and come to the conclusion that more than likely, it is down to marriage. I could be being paranoid or over sensitive however I have seen this thinking in a job I once had. Any women who were interviewed that were around my age (that I am now, I was too young when I was interviewed for the job to have kids, in my eyes anyway) were always interviewed by the same man, who would cleverly chat casually with them after the interview and find out if they were married or living with someone to determine whether he thought they might be likely to start a family soon. Naughty? perhaps....but I am sure he is not alone in doing that or thinking that.

We also know age plays a big part in an employers decision in another way. Men and women in later life who have suddenly found themselves unemployed find it increasingly difficult to find work again due to the number of younger people applying for the same jobs.

So could weight also now be a contributing reason to not employ someone? We do live in an image obsessed culture today, more so than ever. Are retailers looking to employ people with a certain 'look' and of a certain 'weight' rather than going by what it says on their CV or what they say in the interview?

Obviously, the interview process is about meeting the person and working out whether or not they would fit well into the current team of people already employed with that company so of course someone who sounds perfect on paper could give a completely different impression in the flesh, especially if their people/interviewing skills are not very good.

My personal advice would be that there are so many character building or confidence building courses you can do through job agencies, if you are having trouble finding work and think that how you interview is letting you down then it may be worth having a look into attending such a course to see if you can improve.

It's so hard out there at the moment, it is best to make sure you are doing the best you possibly can to make yourself employable.