Marriage and Hiring,

[/crossthread] http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/81667/

Here's what I posted last: Though wouldn't a single person be more likely to move to another job, while a married person with kids would be more likely to stay in an area because he's bought a home, has kids rooted in the education system, etc?

Thoughts on marriage and getting hired?

 

Behold, the irony of this post at the time where I'm considering taking a job with a marriage less than three months away.... sigh.

 

Cuts both ways. In my case, I love my job but my wife hates the area, so I'll probably be moving on soon. If I was single, I'd probably be here for years.

If a hiring manager asked me about marital status, it would raise huge red flags about what kind of operation they have. It's also stupid, because it opens the door for anyone who didn't get the job to claim that they were discriminated against because they're not married (could claim, for instance, that the company only hires married people because it discriminates against gay workers, etc)

 

That's not ironic.

 

In the reverse, this is a hot-button issue with my girlfriend, who gets fairly pissed when it's suggested that family status should be a criteria in companies making workplace decisions. She's hardly the only one, and it's hard to argue.

 

I have a hard time believing that a company should consider family status. It's hard enough deciding who to hire and who would do the best job to also start thinking about whether the candidate is married, or happily married, or single or whatever.

Candidates, not companies, should factor in their home lives when deciding where to work. The company needs to provide 40 hours of work at a fair wage. Candidates need to make sure they're going to be happy the other 128 hours a week.

 

This. I'm getting married this Saturday, and while we got engaged while I was still in the business, I know my decision to leave journalism has the bride 100% more comfortable with taking a walk down the aisle. I'm sure it's hard to marry into a business that takes so much from employees while giving back so little.

As for marital status, it was never a factor with every reporter/editor/photog I ever hired.

 

I worked at a place where they had to make three major beat changes in a year because three married guys (two were newlyweds) were having issues because their wives were mad about how much they were gone and how much they had to travel. To be fair, one of them had just been promoted from GA to a beat with a shitload of travel and his wife was not happy.

I'm glad I was covering the NFL by the time I got married. You still travel a lot, but nothing compared to other beats.

 

Funny that being married is a bad thing in this industry.

It's almost like you are expected to devote your entire life to your job. For $32K a year.

Fuck that shit.

 

One of my previous stops welcomed and seemed to encourage connected staffers. Maybe this kept two decent workers tied to the place longer than they would be otherwise.

 

I don't think it's as big of an issue with deskers and managers as it is with reporters.

I have a friend who works for one of the big websites and he was called into his boss' office as soon as his boss got his "Save the Date" card.

"I understand you're getting married."
"Yes, I am."
"Is this going to be a problem?"
"No, it won't."
"Make sure it isn't."