PLU - PEOPLE LIKE US


Albert Isaacs,
Write-to-the-Point (Professional Writing Service).

Sometimes, even the most liberal of people have subconscious prejudices against others that they may not even know that they have; this ranges from involuntary discriminations against people of a different race, to an unintentional bias against a man because of the colour of his shirt or of the shade of a women's nail-varnish.

When it comes to employment, these prejudgments are often referred to as the PLU factor - the PEOPLE LIKE US factor. Because they are usually subconscious, they are likely to occur at any time and in any company. However, they are certainly more prevalent when it comes to choosing one new employee from a list of, say, two or three similarly qualified people.

If there are subliminal prejudices made against you on the basis of race, colour, creed, sex, age or sexual orientation, there's very little that can actually be done. Of course, it's illegal to make such discriminations but proving it usually impossible, especially if it's done during a series of interviews in which a number of other applicants are also rejected. The fact that such decisions may be intuitive, also makes it virtually impossible to substantiate. That being said, it's always wise to make yourself a PLU during an interview by laughing at the interviewer's jokes, nodding in agreement at things with which you really disagree, and generally giving the impression that you're going to fit in with the interviewer's personality, and with the general social customs that already exist within the company or department.

On the other hand, you must be aware of the possibility that you'll be employed for tokenistic reasons that really represent the opposite side of the PLU coin. The company may need to increase its proportion of women, or it may want to show that it's unprejudiced by employing token Aborigines, Jews, Gays, etc. Of course, if you're employed under such circumstances you probably won't discover this fact until you've started work and, at that stage, it will be up to you whether you put up with the situation or take a stand.



Website: writetothepoint.com.au


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PLU - People Lile Us