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Dear Sir / Madam,

First of all i thank all those who spend their precious time in reading my post. I am a post graduate of Business Administration meanwhile I am an Islamic scholar too.So i have beard and wear cap always. With this same costume i completed my MBA at one of the most popular colleges in Chennai. After completion of the course I attended interview in some companies but they refused me to recruit for the post they need. At the first look itself i found from their face that they are going to reject me due to my personality. One recruiter, frankly asked me regarding this and there also i got rejected. Now i work at Bahrain in a good job and with good salary package.

From the above passage itself you may came to know what i am going to ask you. How does a personality of a person plays a major role in his job productivity and judging his competencies before getting recruited?

And second thing if personality is a major factor for judging ones attitude and character, what kind of personality Mahathma Gandhi had? What personality is our Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Sing has? with their own personality and costume how they glitter in india?

I can give more enough examples of people who were achieved a high image in the country with their own traditional costume. Then why in the field of HR more importance is given to personality rather than the skills and knowledge?

Thanks

Deen Mohammed

From India, Chennai
Dear Deen Mohammad,

Well gentleman, you have got confused with "personality" and "personal preferences". Your candidature was turned down because of personal preferences and not because of your personality.

India is a secular country. Everybody is free to practice religion but then it should be done at home. There is no need to carry outside the symbols of one's religion unless it is absolutely mandatory like in Sikhism wherein it is mandatory to grow beard or wear bracelet.

India is a country but it is also a sort of planet with so may religions, castes, creeds etc living together. For employers, it is not possible to give prominence to one particular religion. Today, if you are permitted to come up with beard, tomorrow someone will ask to come in black outfits because they are devotees of ____. Demands will go on endlessly. Should employers run their enterprise or keep on fulfilling the personal preferences of their employees?

Every employer has his own right to frame rules of employment. As far as growing beard is concerned, almost some 20-25 years ago High of MP has ruled that as per Islam, it is not mandatory to grow beard. Verdict of High Court does not mean that you should not practice your religion. Please practice it, but then for the sake of this practice, do not blame other side for not being accommodative.

Some European countries have gone even step forward. They have banned women wearing veil in public.

Well, you have given example of Mahatma Gandhi. It appears that you have not read his book "My Experiments with Truth". Please read it.

By the way, one's actions speak louder about one's religiosity. Look around and you will find that religion has not helped in any country to bridge gap between rich and poor. In fact this gap is widening. Member countries of Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) are no exception. Therefore, less we project our religion the better!

Thanks,

[B]Dinesh V Divekar[/B]

From India, Bangalore
Hi, mohd........somewhere i agree with you, it's not related with our religion,weather we are Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christan, personality matters for everyone, but i also experienced this thing, in north India, most of the people have fair color, they don't gives so much importance to dark sometimes. ....but it's not xcltly happens allover... those are well educated, nice nature and serious about professionalism.....form them your talent your qualities matters.
From India
While not delving into the subject of religious discrimination, but we must accept that there is large scale discrimination happens during recruitment.
I have seen discriminition in various companies, on the ground of caste (people of higher caste given preference over lower caste), skin color (ofcourse a fair & presentable girl is given pref over not so presentable & fair girl(), regiion bias (normally pref is given to the candiate who is of same religion as his would be boss is), etc.
For this i think to a great extent HR fraternity is to blame, as we tend to go by external & discriminatory rules, rather that on the competency of the person being interviewed.

From India, Mumbai
Dear Dean Mohammed,

Clash between personal and organizational preferences occur in one form or another in all places, including work places. In some jobs, such clashes lead to not being selected owing to the fear of how the clients or customers of an organization will react. I am sure that if another person had attended the interview with a dhoti, and religious symbols prominently displayed on the forehead, he would not have been appointed. You say that you got a good job in the Middle East; I wonder whether I would get one if I went there in my dhoti!!

Coming to your examples of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Manmohan Singh succeeding in politics, I wonder what attire did the former wear when he practiced as a lawyer or a student in the UK!! I am confident that he did not go about in his dhoti above the knee and a cloth to cover the top or top-less? I have given lectures and seminars in Indian institutions. If I had turned up like Gandhi to such events, I am convinced that the institutions would not have hired me.

Dinesh Divekar has clearly explained differences between personality and personal preferences and I have nothing more to add to that.

From United Kingdom
Dear learned members,
Few members who have posted their opinions have written that what happened with Deen Mohammed was "workplace discrimination". I beg to differ with you.
Had Deen Mohammed's candidature been turned down because of his religion, it could have become case of discrimination. However, in his case it is his preference to express his religion outwardly has cost this job. Giving differential treatment because of caste, creed, religion, race etc is workplace discrimination. Not otherwise.
Employers have complete right to keep workplace the way they want. I have seen in some companies that visitors have to remove their footwear before entering their office! Now it is that employer's office and he has made this rule. Whether to deal with this company or not is a personal preference of job candidates, vendors, consultants etc.
Thanks,
Dinesh V Divekar

From India, Bangalore
First thing is that they do not reject you based on your personality but the appearance and the standards you follow.
While going for an interview you must follow the professionalism and etiquette depending on the job you are going for and for corporate jobs you must follow the same. Being religious is good but unnecessarily showing off among other can be cause of problem. Also, companies have their own rules and regulation and they have right to reject a candidate if they find that a particular candidate doesn't fit among others or not fulfill the company standards, also sometime its personal choice. So, if you find yourself not to follow the standards for the company then better you leave and move to places where your standards will not be an obstacle in getting a job.as companies and corporates are not going to compromise with their standards to offer you a job with standards you follow.

From India, Lucknow
Dear Senior Members,

Once again i thank you all for posting reply to my thread. I am sorry if you have misunderstood my thread. Actually what I am trying to say is (Let me ask frankly) as Mr.Dinesh said "There is no need to carry outside the symbols of one's religion unless it is absolutely mandatory like in Sikhism wherein it is mandatory to grow beard or wear bracelet". So if any thing is absolutely mandatory means it is allowed in all organisations, from lower level to high level corporate office. Likewise the beard is absolutely mandatory in Islam also (if some people they doesn't know that means I am not responsible), even I am ready to remove the cap in work place, since it is not that much important. But Sikh people wearing huge turban with beard they work in all level of organisation not only in India but all over the world. Then why the recruiters not allowing other than Sikhs to follow their tradition?

And one more thing, in what way as Mr.Dinesh said "the Personal preferences" affects once job in his work place? The productivity of a person is not based up on his personal preferences but the attitude, skills and knowledge what he brings to the company.

I want to ask the same question to Ms.Couvery also for her comment "While going for an interview you must follow the professionalism and etiquette depending on the job you are going for and for corporate jobs you must follow the same". What if a Sikh comes for an interview with his beard and turban and got selected but a person with beard and cap, a person having some religious powder on his forehead got rejected. Besides they all are equal in knowledge. What logic you have in this?

From India, Chennai
I was discussing this issue with a friend during our daily walk. He said that there is a saying in Kannada language "PAthrakke takkaMte vEsha". That means "Dress according to the role." He gave me an example: just because some one is a good actor, and knows all the script, he can't wear a suit or wear a turban, etc., for the part of Mahatma Gandhi (MG). Ben Kingsley wore a dhoti like MG did and the role was successful. Had he depicted with any other attire, the film would have been a flop. Similarly, if one has to act as Mualana Abdul Kalam Azad he cannot be shown with a dhoti and clean shaven head. The same goes for the need to wear certain attire for certain jobs.
Though orthodox Sikhs wear a turban and grow a beard, etc., there are a lot of Sikhs who do not do that and are successful actors. If these actors had grown a beard, and insisted on wearing a turban, the number of parts that they would have been chosen would have been limited.

From United Kingdom
Please see RARE PHOTOS: Remembering The Mahatma - Rediff.com News to appreciate how Mahatma Gandhi's attire changed over the years.
From United Kingdom
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