Transgender Help

jhgkp

My best friend is a transgender - that is she was born male and now lives as a female.

She is finding it more and more difficult to find a job. She was made redunandant last year, place she worked in closed down.

Is there alot a predjudice out there or is just coindcidence that every job she applies for she is not hearing anything back.

I am quite concerned for her and try reassuring her its just a bad time for looking for work. She does some volounteer work to keep her sane but it doesn't pay.

I just had to vent somewhere and didn't know where to go.

Thank you.

confused76

Oh dear i'm sorry to hear she's struggling. I've been actively job hunting since August and still haven't got a job and I know a number of friends are in the same position so it could well be just a sign of the times. Volunteering is definitely a good way to go as it keeps your skills up to date and looks great on your CV. Good luck to your friend x

caeler

Is she finding that she isn't successful after interview or doesn't she get that far? Alot of employers take their responsibility under the sex discrimination act very seriously so it might be down to skills/competence but I understand there are employers who don't understand this enough, get scared and make stupid decisions. Has your friend tried support groups like UK Angel, etc? When you feel alone it is important to seek support, I'm sure your friend appreciates the support you give.

dancingfairy

Is it being asked about on application forms? In theory any of the monitoring information should be kept totally sepearte from the people who decide whether to grant an interview or not.
Is her cv good? Is she good at writing application forms?
It's pretty hard to get a job right now so it's difficult to say whether it's discrimination or not, and frankly if they are discriminating against her would she want to work in an organisation like that?
I agree about volunteering, maybe doing a college course and keeping positive.
Best of Luck
df

Person_one

Unless she's putting her transgender status in her job applications I really doubt that's why she's not hearing anything back, how would they know to discriminate even if they wanted to?

She's not alone in struggling, unemployment is insanely high and people from all walks of life are in exactly the same boat.

conradmum

I don't see how an employer would know your friend is transgender from her application unless she stated it somehow, and why would she do that? Lots of people are finding it very difficult to get jobs right now. I would encourage her to try to stay positive.

Wilma33

Surley it isn't something you would mention on your CV. So how can that be the reason they are not getting back to her?

jhgkp

Thank you for your kindness so far.

She is now putting it on her applications as she think she got discrimated before.

She went for an interview as her male self just not long in coming out. SHe had the experience they were looking for and qualifcations. THey had spoke to her at length on phone day before but had to do a formal interview. At the interview everything was going well but then when she told them that she was transgender the face dropped but changed to all smiles again and said "i would rather have my staff live near by".

She is now putting in on applications to stop this happening again - so people know before she goes. A good friend looked through her CV to help her tidy it up.

We are thinking of going to night school together and learn something new - chear her up.

THank you.

Person_one

She shouldn't be putting her transgender status on applications, its irrelevant and unprofessional. She doesn't need to tell people at interviews either, why does she think they need to know?

Tell her to go the jobcentre and ask for some help on how to apply for jobs, she seems to have some funny ideas!

mountainofdebt

Person_one wrote: »

She shouldn't be putting her transgender status on applications, its irrelevant and unprofessional. She doesn't need to tell people at interviews either, why does she think they need to know?

Tell her to go the jobcentre and ask for some help on how to apply for jobs, she seems to have some funny ideas!

I must admit I wondered why the dickens she mentioned it as well

Might also be worth her having some interview practice as well

Errata

I think your friend has to be realistic. There is a lot of prejudice about transgender and that's a hard fact of life, but one they will have to live with until it changes. I suggest she speaks to an orgainisation that supports transgendered people for support and guidance on the best way forward for job applications.