Quote:

Actually, D has gone on a few interviews where they won't hire him until they have met the little wife. So it is not quite as great as we sometimes assume.



Until they meet his wife to make a no hire/hire decision??? No offense to you, but that is truly prehistoric thinking. Does your hubby's work capabilities/skills in the workplace rest on you? Of course not. He could be fantastic at work, but be a crappy hubby or the reverse.

I can't imagine the surprise if they met my partner to make a hiring decision...about me. I would be beyond the pale for some folks and fail in terms of their definitions of predictability/stability. Just him being 16 yrs. older than I, already would throw some folks in a loop.

I do employee group training once a month. part of it is on how we collection documents from within our organization. I explain to our ex-patriate staff direct from U.K., germany, Philippines, etc. that my dept. cannot collect documents with personal info. nor any resumes which might offer marital status info., since alot of our ex-patriate staff unwittingly offer this info. when they don't even realize it's illegal for a Canadian employer to obtain your age, marital status, number of children, ethnicity, etc. prior to hiring you. They can ask about marital status and birth date,...after you have accepted the job offer....because employer needs it for benefits eligibility, etc.

And truly amazing, the reaction that I get from ex-pat. staff: "What, isn't that part of knowing you?" Yea, sure.

I had to explain to database reprogrammer, no let's choose Ms. for addressing a woman in a letter, cause we don't know if she's married, single or cohabiting. And who gives a poop --- for a business letter.

I was stunned to learn in the U.K., maybe an old company that for professional woman, they might be still addressed as Mr. in a letter. Jeez.... old, old thinking and practices.