A matter of discrimination

Just fresh out of college I did the rounds looking for a job to earn some extra while I took evening classes for a post graduate study. Since my educational profile dictated I look for job in banks or shops, that was what I went for. Despite my exemplary point average and my diploma carrying the "with honors" tag, I got lost in the crowd of applicants. I put it down to my graduating from a relatively unknown provincial state university. I was discriminated upon because of my school.

So I targeted jobs that would technically render me underemployed. I thought I would surely be taken in easily but I was wrong. Long lines of pretty, tall and fair-skinned girls made me look ugly, short and dark-skinned. I was discriminated upon because of my looks.

Through a relative's intersession, I got a job as an assistant of sorts. My task consisted of adding up some numbers, writing them on a receipt, putting them inside an envelope and sending them. I lasted two months and left feeling like I have escaped from a sure slow death.

Finally, a bank decided I was good enough for a PR position. I was very excited. This was a job that was close to what I thought I wanted to do: writing. But the good feeling did not last as I did not pass the medical exam. I contracted an illness that I suspected I acquired while working in that sad assistant job earlier. I was discriminated upon because of my health.

So off I went back home to the province to recuperate physically and mentally. I had to give up attempting to write the thesis required of me in order to complete the post-graduate program. While licking my wounds, my father found me a temporary gig at a local radio station. I was a success on the radio waves. How did I know that, you would ask. The huge amount of letters I was receiving everyday told me clearly how popular I was becoming. I was on my highest high when I had the unfortunate luck of getting chicken pox. I was sidelined for a couple of weeks and when I was ready for work, there was none to come back to. The station have replaced me with a male announcer. This time, I was not only discriminated upon because of my health but also because of my gender. It was clearly their loss, as I was doing the job for totally nothing!

Then I went on to work in a government agency. I lasted a couple of years amid rumors of the possibility of getting sacked at any moment. I just could not stand the suspense waiting around to see if the rumors were true, and I had this perception that my tasks were quite pointless as there really was no money to lend to the cooperatives I was trying to organize anyway. There was no discrimination towards me in this job. The discrimination fell on the region where the agency operated. There simply was no federal political clout that could help projects get financed in my province.

Like manna falling from heaven, I heard of this company recruiting artists to become animators in the big city. I quit the job in a heartbeat, no hesitation there. I just knew I could nail the admission test easily. And since the only prerequisite was that the applicant be able to draw a human face and figure in three different views: frontal, side and back, plus an action drawing thrown in the mix, I got included in the roster of trainees. No discrimination there either, as I was admitted because of what I can do, and not for anything else.

I loved the job, I admired the unbelievably talented artists I was working with. I loved the frenzy of the deadlines, the weird personalities, and most of all, the pay. And I loved that nobody cared about which school I came from, or whether I was a mental case or not, or whether females were outnumbered by males... There simply was no place for discrimination among artists, only our love for our craft.

Then I moved to Belgium. At the beginning everything went more or less smoothly, except for one occasion when I was summoned by VDAB to report to a government agency to apply for a job they thought fitted my profile. Even before I could hand my CV and the accompanying letter coming from VDAB, the lady at the desk ordered me to leave right away saying it was a major mistake to even attempt to come. I was shocked as I did not go there voluntarily. I was asked to go there. Did the lady not understand it? It took me hours before I realized I was being discriminated upon because of my color! I have grown used to being accepted for being me in the artist's job I did for years in my home country that I failed to read the signals of discrimination!

I was lucky enough to find a job that did not require me to be of a certain standard aside from my sound work ethic and ability to perform the assignment at hand. But despite of how much I enjoy this line of work, I have always wondered how it would be like working for another company for a change.

So through all those years, I have sent out application letters intermittently, just to test the waters, just to find out how the would be employers would react to my letter of motivation and CV, and see if I was in any way marketable in the Belgian work force.

Sadly, I have yet to receive a single invitation for an interview for the numerous application letters I have mailed. Even the most obvious jobs where I thought I would be a push-over and a hands-down choice, I failed to convince enough to get me invited for a face-to-face. I have analyzed my profile in many angles. I could speak and write their language. My educational background is up to par. My job experience is excellent. Is it my age now? Is it my gender? Or is it my color?

I look forward to that very first interview that any company would grant me. I am not desperate to find a job as I already have one. I am just desperate to find out whether even after talking to me in person they would still judge me for my age, gender or color. Any takers?