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Q: My company was recently hiring for a new position.

During the hiring process, I discovered that the supervisor in charge of interviewing for the position indicated to others at the company that he was going to give preference to women because his department already had a lot of men.

Is this appropriate and/or legal?

If not, what are the potential consequences?

A: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended ("Title VII"), prohibits discrimination in employment based on certain protected classifications, including race, color, sex, pregnancy, religion, national origin, age (40 or over) and disability.

Many states have individual laws that prohibit discrimination in employment as well. Therefore, under Title VII and certain states' laws, employers are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of sex with respect to hiring.

It is noted that while claims pertaining to hiring discrimination typically involve women, men are entitled to Title VII protection as well. This is referred to as "reverse discrimination." When an employer hires women over men, regardless of qualifications, this could be deemed discriminatory.

There are situations, however, in which employers may purposefully seek out qualified candidates of a certain gender or ethnicity to meet a quota or diversify a department as part of an affirmative action program.

Affirmative action is required by federal government contractors. In meeting affirmative action obligations, certain government contractors may discover that there is a substantial disparity in the hiring of a particular minority group, or men or women of a particular minority group.

In this case, the contractor may be required by federal law to meet certain goals for that minority group with respect to particular job classifications and organizational units. In these circumstances, hiring on the basis of sex may be warranted. Aside from hiring pursuant to a required affirmative action plan, though, hiring decisions on the basis of sex or sex stereotypes are forbidden.

If an individual believes he has been discriminated against with respect to a hiring decision, he must file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)--which is the agency responsible for enforcing Title VII--before he can file a lawsuit alleging that an employer violated Title VII.

article continued ... “Avoid Discrimination in Hiring Practices”

More articles about Career Development for Employees and Human Resource Management for Personnel Managers:

“Job Search Tips for Sales Professionals”
Each specific industry has a variety of requirements that an employee has to meet. In searching for jobs as sales professionals, how do you prepare for a competitive environment?

Here are useful tips you could perform in searching the appropriate job and acing the interview.

“Better Job Search Engines”
Job search engines use state-of-the-art technology to assist people in their job quest. Here you could enter all the relevant information to reduce the lists of sought after jobs to get more accurate results.

Because new jobs are being added daily or even hours after, the tendency to see the results you had yesterday may be different from what you see today. This is where job search engines come in handy.

After some trial and error there are a few job search engines that could yield better results. They allow searchers to see major job sites, companies and even its associations by entering a keyword and location. Results can be seen in different ways, it could be in a browser list and some sent thru e-mail

“Time Management Tips to Get You Started on the Right Track”
You can read all about time management skills, but if you never begin to use them, you will never reap the rewards. Getting on track with your time management skills is a difficult step. It is easier when you jump head first into it.

You may seem a little off balance the first week or so, due to the new way of doing things, but after you get use to the newer system; you will find yourself more relaxed and happy. These five time management tips are great ways to get started.

“The Job Interview FAQ”
The second step in getting a job is having an interview with a potential employer. The first step was sending your application and after careful review by the company, you are seen as candidate for the vacant position.

The employer got this information through an ad that was placed in the paper, referred by someone in the company or a headhunter, or by a person who simply submitted an application via the company’s website.

“How to Get the Most Out of Job Hunting Websites”
Are you looking for a new job? If you are and if you also have internet access, there is a good chance that you may end up turning to career hunting or job hunting websites. Two examples of these types of websites are CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com.

Although these websites are great ways to gain access to hundreds, if not thousands, of up-to-date job listings, if you want to be successful it is advised that you know how to get the most out of these websites. When it comes to using career hunting or job hunting websites, there are some websites that allow you to search through job listings without having to create an account. However, if you find a job listing that you would like to apply to, you will often need to create an account.

“Job Descriptions: Why Effective Job Descriptions Make Good Business Sense”
Most neophyte workers or even freshly graduated members of the workforce will jump into jobs without knowing their job descriptions. This practice is understandable.

Many of these fresh graduates are just glad to have gotten a job and will try to avoid being to nosy or pushy when it comes to work. They may think that ‘demanding’ a job description will be an added negative to their employer’s impression of them.

“Tips For a Stress-Free IT Job Search”
The best source to look for jobs related to Information Technology (most commonly known as IT) is, obviously, the Internet.

Various sites offer listings of job openings for specific fields. The key for a fruitful search is to know how and where to look for the best possible jobs available.

“Interview Tips to Help You Land that Job”
Are you looking for a new job or a new career? If you are, your first step should be examining job listings. When it comes to finding job listings, you have a number of different options.

For instance, you can use your local newspaper, the internet, or career counseling centers. In a way, finding job listings is the easy part. Actually getting the job that you want is the hard part.

“Identifying your skills and getting that job”
When applying for a job, it is ideal that you identify your strengths and weaknesses and get prepared to address them. By knowing your advantage, the chances of getting the job that you want will surely get easier. But you should not get too confident since this is one of the common mistakes that plague job applicants.

Appearing too confident or as somewhat of a know it all person will only get you labeled by your interviewer as unfit for the job.

“Be an Effective Leader at Work”
There will always be a person in an organization that stands out among the group. A natural born leader, he will always be looked upon as a mentor or as a role model. While there are natural born leaders, there are those who are struggling just to get some attention.

A good leader won't have a hard time influencing others; naturally, people will follow an effective leader. One who demonstrated a passion on his work will inspire others to attain a vision. Lee lacocca is a classic example of this determination. During the 1980’s, Chrysler’s fortune reached its lowest. To show his confidence that the company would regain its footing, lacocca cut his salary to only $1! Obviously, the company survived and continues to flourish at present.

“How To Groom Your Successor To Get Promoted”
Being successful on the job you have is truly a rewarding experience but you should always remember that not everything is permanent. Every employee needs to work up especially if there are promotions within the company or somewhere else. As a successful employee, you should know how to groom your successor to get promoted and to ensure continuity.

Of course it is a professional move to teach your successor/s the ideal ways of managing your area to a point where your interests meet. As time changes, so does business and the styles of management.

“7 Ways You can Gain Respect as a Leader”
Respect is something most people pursue but don’t always get. Sometimes it's imposed upon certain individuals by virtue of their birth, circumstance or authority but for the rest of us, respect is something we have to earn. If this is one of your goals, here are ways you can use to gain other people's respect and improve your leadership:

You sow what you reap. If you must earn other people's respect, show them respect. It's easy for professional and personal relationships to crumble when the foundation isn't built on mutual respect. If you want to gain respect but don’t want to give it, forget your dream. You can only lead people on for a short while, after which you will have to show that you truly deserve the respect they give you.

When to Start Career Planning

“Free career planning”
When you come straight out of college it can be hard to find some direction for your life, however, you can find plenty of free career planning tools to help you.

When it comes to college, most people think that they may have a clue as to what they would like to do, but then when they get into the field, they seem to still have a void in their life. This is when you are going to have to get some plans for the future, but when you go online you will be able to find a lot of free career planning tools to help you get the future that you want and deserve.

“Financial planning career”
You will find that when you pick a career that your financial situation will help guide you, however, you are going to have to do some financial planning in your career. Some of the things that you are going to have to think about is if you would like to start a family, buy a house, move, and even retire.

There are lot of things in your life that you are going to have to think about, however, you are going to have to have some money for most of the things that you would like to get out of life. Financial planning is hard to do when you are young, but you have to find a way for you to get over it and do some saving.

“Tricks of the Trade: The Right Attitude in Facing Ethical Issues as a Leader”
Business leaders have the difficult task of balancing the performance of their team and at the same time maintaining the ethical values that exists in the workplace. But amidst the professional approach and good management, facing ethical issues as a leader has its own ups and downs.

There is no specific principle or written book on how to face these ethical challenges. Experienced business leaders have had their own share of bad situations and consequences during the course of their career. But years of facing many such issues have eventually made it easier for an experienced leader to cope with the challenge.

“Office Politics Is Here To Stay”
The best way to deal with office politics is to accept that it is a part of real work life.

Office politicians thrive in this muddy field. Any office worker should know how to survive this sticky minefield for any attempts to avoid it is near to impossible.

“College career planning”
It is important that you plan your college career very early in life. There are a lot of people who find it hard to make life-altering decisions so early in life, but if you do the right amount of research, you should be able to make the right decision for you future. First, you should not jump into something without doing the proper research.

When it comes to researching your college career you will want to research schools, majors, and career fields. You will want to make sure that your college career is meaningful to you because you will want to make something out of the years in college, not waste them. You will find that with the proper amount of research you will be able to make life-altering changes in life without having to fear that you are making a mistake.

Career Planning: Frequently Asked Questions

“Calling Around to Find Job Listings: Good Idea or Not?”
Are you looking to find a new job? If you are, you may be looking for a local job. When it comes to finding available job listings, you will soon see that you have a number of different options. Despite having a number of different options, there are many who decide to call around to local employers, to see if they are hiring.

When it comes to calling around to local employers to determine if they are hiring or not, the biggest pro or plus side to doing so is the time that it may be able to save you. If you weren’t able to place a call, you would likely have to visit the establishment in question, drop off a resume, or fill out a job application. This can take up a considerable amount of your time, especially if it turns out the employer in question isn’t even hiring right now. Yes, your application or resume may be saved for a later date, but you may consider the time spent to be a waste of time

“Career planning and management”
You will find that when you are planning you career that you will be able to get into some management roles. Management has a lot of benefits and it is a boast to a person's ego. Most people who are planning their career hope to someday become a management of some sort.

Management is a career goal because you will be higher up in rank and also you will be in charge of others. Being apart of management is sort of like being your own boss, even though you have people to answer to, you know have people who have to answer to you. The power can be completely empowering to someone and it can make work and life seem a whole lot better.

“Career planning test”
Have you ever taken a career-planning test? They aren't very hard, but some can be very time consuming, however, if you have the patience you will be able to find a lot about yourself that you may have never even known.

If you would like to take a career-planning test, you may want to go to a professional career coach or someone who offers guidance in careers and the future of others. You may also go online and take a career-planning test so that you can get some sort of idea of whom you are and what you will like to be. A career-planning test can do a lot for your future and it can prove a lot, as to what would make you the happiest.

“Career planning program”
When it comes to finding a career-planning program you may want to go and find a professional career coach. The coach will encourage you to find a career that sounds interesting and that fits into your life and personality. You will find that a career coach will help you to reach your goals and to set future goals. Your career is very important in the way that your life will turn out.

If you do not find the right career then you will never be able to be happy with yourself and your life. There are many things that you can do, but you may want to keep in mind that if you go with a professional you will find encouragement and you will find the strength to make a change in your life.

“Useful Tips For Advancing In Your Profession To Become A Leader”
Most, if not all, aspire to be promoted and eventually become leaders and managers of the company or business they are connected with. However, only few people get to realize that dream. Only a number have learned how to advance in their respective professions in order to be a leader.

If you want your dream of becoming a chief executive, managing director, or even president of your organization to become reality, read on and follow the tips below:

“Career planning information”
If you are looking for career planning information, you may want to look in several places. The first place that you will find career planning information is online. You will also want to look at the local libraries for information, and then you should go to a company that is currently involved in the career fields of your choice.

When it comes to the Internet there is so much information for you to find. You will first want to look up some government sites that will help you to understand the careers that you have chosen. The United States Bureau of Labor takes many statistics to help you understand what it means to be in a career. They will tell you how many people in the country are currently in the field and then how the future of the field looks. You will want to make sure that you pick a career that you will be able to have a future in.

“Career planning guide”
There are many things that you can do when it comes to planning your career, however, there are some guides that will allow you to make something out of your plans. When it comes to career planning guides you will be able to find motivation books online and off online.

You will want to look at some popular bookstore chains, as well as, some of the popular book online sites. Sites like Amazon tend to have everything that you could possible look for in a motivational book.

“Career planning for student”
As a parent, you may think that it is too early to start to have your child to plan their career, but soon they will be in college, and then they will definitely have to have some type of plan. You will want to make sure that you take steps to encourage your children to be whatever they want to be so that they can have the self-esteem to go for all of their dreams.

When it comes to planning your career as a student, you may find many helpful resources. Your teachers, your guidance counselors, and even the parental units will be given you tons of information in order to find some inspiration. You should stay open to all options that you hear, even if you know that you want to do nothing of the sort. It is important that you go for the dreams that you have so that you can feel happy and fulfilled with your life

Career Growth and Expansion

“Career planning”
It is important that when you graduate from college you will need to make sure that you do some career planning. It is important that you plan your career for the fact that you want to have aim while you are in college. In college, there are things that you will do so that you can make something of yourself, including by scheduling and picking your classes. Your career will dedicate your life so it is important that you take career planning serious and that you think about your future when you choose a career.

It is also very important that you make sure that the career path that you choose fits your personality and your future goals. There are a lot of career tests that you can take online and offline so that you can pick a career that suits you. You will notice that your career planning may be rough in the beginning, but if you do your research you should be able to find a solid path for your future.

“Career guide life planning practical training”
When it comes to career planning, you tend to think the craziest things when you are young and not yet focused on life. When you're a kid you want to be the President, the Pope, a NASA scientist; kids tend to shoot for the stars, however, when you grow up, you need to aim realistically, not lower. When it comes to career goals you do not want to set the bar too high, but you do need it to be a slight challenged.

The only thing that you will want to worry about when it comes to picking a career is that it is something that you can reach. If you can see you can do it, right? Well sometimes, it depends on your means. When it comes to planning your career you need to think about support, money, and effort.

“Career life planning”
When it comes to life planning you will find that it is never done. You will continuously aim for a goal that is going to help you move forward in life and in your career. You will want to make sure that your career planning is done on a regular basis so that you can keep up to date on your goals and as well as your needs and wants. You will find that the average person will take numerous jobs in their lifetime, but they will usually settle down for one company.

It is that one company that will take your career life planning to the max. It is what will make you want to put in the time, as well as, put in the effort to make something out of your career. When your career is all said and done, you want to make sure that you have the money to retire and begin to enjoy your life. It's never too late to start planning, however, the sooner the better for your future

“Take A Cue On How To Act Professionally To Deserve Promotion”
Many companies around the country employ hundreds or thousands of people each without actually realizing that the work force they employ are made up of highly skilled individuals and not professionals. In today's world of computers, sophisticated machines, and home office trends, the concept of professionalism is slowly being siphoned off to oblivion. Nevertheless, there are still the mighty few who believe that acting professionally in the workplace may be the one way ticket to a promotion.

“Career Fair Job Hunting Tips”
If you are, you may want to give career fairs a try, as they are a great way to not only find available jobs, but also acquire them.

As you likely already know, career fairs are large events where multiple employers come in search of qualified employees. In most cases, career fairs are held in public places, such as shopping malls or hotel lobbies. They are also often free to attend.

“How to build retirement security”
Knowing if you have saved enough is just part of retirement security. The other part involves creating an investment scheme that will create income without touching your savings.

If you’re past 40 or in your 50s, things are a little more difficult. It’s difficult to predict the amount of income that you’ll need during retirement. The needs and interest rates are bound to vary during that period.

“8 Ways You Can Become an Effective Leader”
Prove you can. To be an effective leader, you must be able to prove that you can, indeed, lead. You are the head of the pack and must be able to prove that you deserve it. Credibility is the mark of an effective leader and if you prove you can deliver by example, you can convince your people that they too, can perform.

Set clear goals. Be definitive about what you want to happen and what you expect your people to do. Setting clear demarcation lines and set schedules can help you and your team determine your group's true efficiency. Nothing spells incompetence more than an ambiguous and vague sense of direction.

“Seven Basic Salary Negotiation Tips”
Money is the most sensitive issue in the whole hiring process. Discussing the compensation often causes anxiety on both employee and employer. Here are seven ways to make the process of salary negotiating efficient.

1) Research: Before the interview process begins, contact the professional organization that represents your field of career. As soon as they provide you with your salary information, you can now examine your monthly cash requirements. Remember that once your taxes are added to your paycheck, approximately 30% of your gross monthly salary is deducted

“How to Avoid Gender Discrimination When Vying for a Promotion”
Gender discrimination at the workplace is a fact of life that people have to deal with. Although there are laws against gender discrimination, they aren't always followed to the letter in reality. You shouldn't lose hope however because there are ways to avoid it, and proving yourself to be worthy of the promotion you are vying for has certainly nothing to do with your gender.

The very first step in avoiding gender discrimination when vying for a promotion starts with you. You must adopt a mindset that allows you to believe in yourself regardless of your gender. Remember that you can't demand from people what you yourself don't feel strongly about. Thus, you shouldn't use your gender as an excuse for not doing a certain task or obligation with excellence and superb quality worthy of that promotion or for admiration among your peers.

“The Secret to Promotion — Preparing Your Documents to Ask for Promotion”
When you are preparing for a promotion, people often concentrate entirely on the process — the hard work of proving your capacity to meet deadlines, deliver excellent results, and work beyond your job description. And then a promotion comes along and instead of the expected results, the truth finally struck you — you are not eligible for promotion because there weren't enough documents to support your eligibility.

“Advice career planning”
Are you looking for advice in your career planning? Are you wondering where you can find good advice to help you make something out of your life? There is a lot of good places, however, you need to take your career planning advice seriously. It is important that when you graduate from college you look for some advice for planning your career.

You will be able to find aim when you are in college, but when you get out, it's like what do you do now, however, if you get some good advice you will be able to find career direction.

“Career day planning”
There are a lot of businesses and opportunities from the area in which you live in and they will offer career day. You should go to career day because there are tons of companies that are looking for people to hire and there are lot of companies who would like others to take them as a serious potential employer. There is a lot that you can find at a career day that you will be able to make some serious plans for yourself.

“Career Fairs: A Great Way to Find Jobs”
Are you searching for a new job or a new career? If you are, you may have searched for jobs online or even in your newspaper’s employment section. Although these resources are great ones, you may want to think about trying career fairs, as they are a great way to find available job positions, as well as apply for them at the same time.

“Career development planning”
When you attend college you are planning your career and getting prepared for the world, however, you should know that the career is still developing.

When you are in college, you have a lot of leeway in changing your mind and finding new careers in able to become something.

You will find that college will give you all of the knowledge needed to do a job; however, it does not show you have to do a job. When you have a career development planning, you will find that you have a plan, but you have not taken the action.

“Best Jobs”
Employers have said that they are more likely to be 12 percent more graduates this year than last year. It is the first projected increase since the year 2000.

In another study, a projected 60 percent of US business plan to employ the same number of graduates this year as with last year. That is an increase of fifty-five percent from last year, according to the CERI (Collegiate Employment Research Institute) at MSU.

“Three Tricks To Acing Performance Appraisals And To Get Promoted”
Your company's performance appraisal cycle is just around the corner and you have been dreaming of getting that promotion. Well, the importance of getting excellent marks during the performance appraisal can't be overemphasized if you want to climb up your company's hierarchy. Indeed, your performance appraisal translates to your line to professional success.

As with any aspect of life, always remember that there is no alternative for good preparation. So, the most dangerous move that you can take during your company's performance appraisal cycle is to act unconcerned and pretend that such an evaluation period isn't happening at all.

“OFFICE POLITICS 101: Mastering the Art of Office Politics”
Take the example of this employee who never gets tired of going around saying her usual good mornings and compliments to everybody including the bigwigs. She almost won “Ms. Congeniality” for the Ms. U.S.A pageant but have you ever wondered why?

She is playing good politics in your organization. You do not think that hard work alone will get you on top, do you?

“How do I develop HR policies for a start-up from scratch?”

“When Perfect Isn’t Good Enough”

“Keeping track of employees' time”

“Learning to Say What You Mean to Employees”

“Nine Tips on Checking References”

“The Best Ways to Reward Employees”

“Top 10 Things Every Business Should Provide For Every employee”

Effective Decision Making

“How To Improve Your Self Management Skills

“Ten Employer-Employee Rules for Successfully Running A Small Business”

“How to Improve Your Delegation Skills”

“Win-Win Negotiation Tips”

“How To Improve Your Supervising and Leadership Skills”

Do You Know the Path to Success?

Career Planning 101 Has the Information You Need to Get Your Career Headed in the Right Direction

Use this mini toolkit to help you navigate the different phases of the career planning process.
Make the most of your career planning and ensure your success!
This checklist is designed for:
• Anyone interested in identifying their hidden talents and abilities and matching them to the perfect job.
• Anyone that wants to avoid costly errors during the job planning process.
• Anyone interested in expanding his or her horizons to reach their highest potential!
• Students that want to plan their career the moment they start school.
• Students interested in finding a major that will match their ideal career.

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