Age question in interview

[shakanr]

Hello!
I have been working in the US and recently had a telephone interview with a multinational firm in Singapore. I was surprised by the "how old are you?" question - is this a standard interview question in Singapore? Thanks.

[Strong Eagle]

How old are you? Are you pregnant? Where is your photo? Are you a fag? Will you be leaving your boyfriend/girlfriend in the next 90days? Do you get sick a lot?

There is no affirmative action here... nada... zip... well, in theory there is... but the reality is that everything is fair game.

Let me ask you one thing... how is it that Northwest, BA, Continental have 'grannies' as flight attendants while Singapore, Thai, and many others only have gorgeous chicks? Hmm... let me think about that one.

[shakanr]

Point taken in the case of the flight attendants. But with regards to management positions, does age impact your chances of getting a job (either positively or negatively)? In the US, one could be promoted to a fairly senior management position purely on the basis of their merit, even if it is evident that he/she is far younger than other people holding a similar title.
Now, I bring this up NOT to say that one country's practices are better than the other. I just want to be aware of the way it is in Singapore so that I'm not blind sighted later on. Thanks!

[sundaymorningstaple]

As SE pointed out, everything that is against the law in the US is NOT against the law here. The most that is said here is that you "shouldn't" base on this or that, but in fact there are no laws (just what they like to call "best practices"). Then can AND WILL ask for your Race, Marital Status, Age, Religion, Number of Children and ages and require a photo attached as they also will work on looks as well (even though it has absolutely nothing to do with the position - I'm not talking about flight attendants, models, front desk service personnel and so forth). So, best advice, it to remember that you are NOT in the US and there are no Equality Laws per se here.

Sad but true. (Both SE and I have had to learn this over the years. )

Age? This is a good one. If you are a local the at 45 you are considered nearing retirement age and at 55 you are already dead if your are retrenched. On the other hand, if you are a Caucasian Expat, you can be 65 or 70 if you happen to be a good construction project manager 55-60 if a senior in the Banking Industry and you will be in good shape. It's strange here but yeah, age plays a distinctive part here as well.

sms

[road.not.taken]

It's not affirmative action though as SE suggested ~ isn't it EOEC, the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission that is lacking here? Also, SE the grannies weren't hired at 50 with a big caboose, they are there because of their job performance and their union, which keeps them in their jobs. They are not new hires.

Either way it sucks shakanr, and it is one of the many ways Singapore shows it's immaturity as a society, why not call it for what it is. The bias doesn't just include the want ads either, how about the classified ads for real estate that say NO INDIANS. Normally I would throw in my obilgtory eye roll here, but since some board members don't like it...

[pakjohn]

Also, SE the grannies weren't hired at 50 with a big caboose, they are there because of their job performance and their union, which keeps them in their jobs. They are not new hires.

In the worlds largest, and probably one of the worst, airlines a lot of the older ones are not new hires but new to that job. Very correct about the union putting them there though. Delta has to bid new openings in their flight attendant ranks so often the new jobs are bid on by senior admins or other support staff from the airline hubs in Georgia, Ohio and Utah. The best routes are given to the most senior flight attendants, so by bidding on those jobs an admin can go from working 20 days a month to work 2 to 3 days a week.

Still angry RNT? Let it go, I'm willing to drop it if you are. I just think if you, or anyone else, see a post that is naive they should just ignore it, let it die on the vine. Lets drop the sarcasm and ridicule, we can get our points across with out it. Me included.

[road.not.taken]

Also, SE the grannies weren't hired at 50 with a big caboose, they are there because of their job performance and their union, which keeps them in their jobs. They are not new hires.

In the worlds largest, and probably one of the worst, airlines a lot of the older ones are not new hires but new to that job. Very correct about the union putting them there though. Delta has to bid new openings in their flight attendant ranks so often the new jobs are bid on by senior admins or other support staff from the airline hubs in Georgia, Ohio and Utah. The best routes are given to the most senior flight attendants, so by bidding on those jobs an admin can go from working 20 days a month to work 2 to 3 days a week.

Still angry RNT? Let it go, I'm willing to drop it if you are. I just think if you, or anyone else, see a post that is naive they should just ignore it, let it die on the vine. Lets drop the sarcasm and ridicule, we can get our points across with out it. Me included.

Sure, easy to drop it when you call someone a troll, then refuse to apologize when asked point blank to do so. Where is that southern charm when I need it?

A conciliatory tone has a better chance at getting some traction when genuine and borne out of actual acts fence mending, not just the desire to make it so. You want to stay up on your high horse but you avoid the hurdles.

As far as posts which are naive, you lost me entirely.

[pakjohn]

Sure, easy to drop it when you call someone a troll, then refuse to apologize when asked point blank to do so. Where is that southern charm when I need it?

A conciliatory tone has a better chance at getting some traction when genuine and borne out of actual acts fence mending, not just the desire to make it so. You want to stay up on your high horse but you avoid the hurdles.

While I didn't call you a housebound troll directly, I did lump you into a group of people that strike me that way. We'll probably not agree on how your posts come across; I'm not looking to change your mind or be your friend.
A wiser choice, in my reply, might have been to ask you if you meant to imply my recommendation was unworthy due to the things you don't like about the place and your choice is the better one. I didn't really expect many replies to that post other than a few people saying "mine so far is XXXX". I'm sure Quasi won't like me saying it, but his disagreement with my opinion was well taken. (I think it came across that I was trashing him when I spoke against Carls, I wasn't)

I didn't reply that way because your post made me angry, and I don't believe it was unjustified. If you don't want an angry response, don't ask for one. You've never said you didn't intend it that way so I assume you did intend it that way. Why would I apologize for that?

The part of the naive posting by a newbie wasn't so much directed just at you, but in general. If you watch posts by newbie’s, they sometime get trashed for their questions or for their grammar. I'll probably get flamed for this; but if their question is stupid why can't people just not reply at all?
A zero next to their post speaks volumes. If their English is so bad that the question isn't understandable, why not just say "I can't understand what you're saying"? Not all expats speak English well and it's nice to have so many locals on this site. Not all the locals speak English well either.

To be clear, I’m not trying to win you over, but I shouldn’t have added to the negativity and immaturity on this board and will stop it provided the gesture is returned.

[Strong Eagle]

It's not affirmative action though as SE suggested ~ isn't it EOEC, the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission that is lacking here? Also, SE the grannies weren't hired at 50 with a big caboose, they are there because of their job performance and their union, which keeps them in their jobs. They are not new hires.

Either way it sucks shakanr, and it is one of the many ways Singapore shows it's immaturity as a society, why not call it for what it is. The bias doesn't just include the want ads either, how about the classified ads for real estate that say NO INDIANS. Normally I would throw in my obilgtory eye roll here, but since some board members don't like it...

Yes... EEOC it is, thank you.

And has for the ladies... on a Continental flight a couple of Christmases ago, the woman in her 50's had just taken the job and completed her training... she was junior cabin crew. And I really don't care what they look like... I want good service.

[road.not.taken]

A wiser choice, in my reply, might have been to ask you if you meant to imply my recommendation was unworthy due to the things you don't like about the place and your choice is the better one. I didn't really expect many replies to that post other than a few people saying "mine so far is XXXX"

Wow! more about hamburgers and intentions... This is the wrong place for this discussion. Enough already.

shakanar, apologies for hijacking your thread. I hope we have answered your question despite the meanderings?

SE, when it comes to domestic US airlines, the flight attendants aren't there to provide any real service, other than look out for our safety. I saw a perfectly fit, strapping male flight attendant tell an 80 year old woman he couldn't put her carry on in the overhead bin ~ not his job you see...

The whole industry is going to hell in a hand basket. I either want good service, or I want no service and a discounted price.

[pakjohn]

And has for the ladies... on a Continental flight a couple of Christmases ago, the woman in her 50's had just taken the job and completed her training... she was junior cabin crew. And I really don't care what they look like... I want good service.

I always assumed if it's a long flight and the lady is older, (50 is not old to me), the person had a lot of seniority whether she was new to the job or not. If she's older and on a short hop she's a new hire. My assumption, may not be correct. As long as they do their job I don't care.

I guess fliers to the U.S. notice the difference on domestic carriers greeting from the flight attendents since 2002. "The flight attendants are here for your safety", it used to be "The flight attendants are here for your comfort". lol! Shortly after that Delta showed up with brown bag lunches. Not sure if they still do that or not, it wasn't very well received.

[shakanr]

Thank you all for your responses. I get the message loud and clear. As for asking a naive question, I didn't realize I was asking one. As someone being exposed to a new culture, it is only normal to have questions on practices that you aren't used to. I was asking one such question on a forum that I thought would be a relevant place to ask. Thanks again.

[pakjohn]

Thank you all for your responses. I get the message loud and clear. As for asking a naive question, I didn't realize I was asking one. As someone being exposed to a new culture, it is only normal to have questions on practices that you aren't used to. I was asking one such question on a forum that I thought would be a relevant place to ask. Thanks again.

Your post isn't the one I was talking about, sorry it came across that way. There are a lot of one way converstations going on lately.

RNT, your reply wasn't a surprise,it's typical and I rather expected it.

[kaseyma]

Thank you all for your responses. I get the message loud and clear. As for asking a naive question, I didn't realize I was asking one. As someone being exposed to a new culture, it is only normal to have questions on practices that you aren't used to. I was asking one such question on a forum that I thought would be a relevant place to ask. Thanks again.

Not really a naive question if you've not been in Asia before.
At least you got your answer (yes, it's standard) and then some.

So, how did the interview go?

[shakanr]

I thought that the interview went well, but they came back with "not enough years of experience". They knew the extent of my experience from my CV and my recruiter before the interview, so that was strange. Maybe the interview didn't go as well as I thought...