Job hunting isn’t how it used to be.
My parents like to tell stories about how when they were eleven years old, all they had to do to get work was walk up to the owner of the local convenience store and ask if they could sweep the floors for some extra cash.
You could get anything and everything done through word of mouth.
Nowadays, it’s a little more complicated.
You could potentially go through an entire hiring process without your employer even meeting you, which can be both good and bad— bad because everything you want to get across has to be done so through your written application or phone interview, but good because you have less chance of your physical appearance being one of the deciding factors.
Whether we want to admit it or not, first impressions matter.
Though physical appearance shouldn’t have anything to do with work ethic, we can’t help but see someone’s clothes, hair, and general demeanor as an extension of themselves.
On a micro-level, this isn’t harmful. We make these kinds of judgments in every area of our lives, from dating to work to how we want to present ourselves.
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However, things get tricky when employers with ignorant and prejudiced views begin to make biased judgment calls.
One girl was encouraged by her friend to apply for a position at Subway.
17-year-old Katelyn Simmons handed in an application to the Champion Forest and Cypresswood branches in Texas.
She was hoping to work the job during the summer in order to earn some extra cash.
Simmons’ friend worked at one of the locations.
Her friend messaged the store’s current manager Monica to let her know that an application had come in, and that she was leaving it on her desk to be looked at.
Monica then asked what the applicant looked like. Simmons’ friend described her as “a black girl, long dark hair, shortish.”
Her manager had a surprising response.
“Oh no thanks. I don’t want those people in our store.”
Simmons’ friend immediately told her what had happened, and she was understandably crushed.
“It really upset me that people living in this day and age still think like that and think that it’s okay to verbally be out there like that,” Simmons explained.
“It hurts me, because I don’t want people to get that image and get discouraged.”
“I wasn’t raised to be sensitive about those topics, that’s how the world is,” she said. “We can’t change it, but it cut me differently because it was so direct to me and I was doing something to better my future and it got shot down by something so vain.”
Simmons’ mother shared photos of the manager’s text on Facebook in order to spread awareness.
“Help me spread this and get this manager fired,” she wrote, “My daughter’s friend works there who encouraged her to apply. We are typically silent about this stuff but this was pretty blatant and to be sharing this type of hate with other kids who don’t feel the same way is taking it too far.”
Shortly after the incident, Subway released their own statement.
“The manager of this location was immediately terminated for her actions,” the statement reads.
“The Franchise Owner has reached out to the young woman who applied for the position to apologize and encourage her to consider re-applying. The former manager’s actions do not reflect the openness and values shown by Subway Franchise Owners and their staffs.”
h/t: Unilad
