As I enter a rapid descent towards my finals and subsequent graduation, I have started asking myself the inevitable questions about what I plan to do next. A truthful response would be is "Not a clue" or perhaps more realistically, "whatever I can get".
My university career's officer, a person who I had hoped might hand me a suggestion or two, was unable to offer much more than a lukewarm "Yeah, its really tough out there. Just make sure you avoid finding yourself in a career cul-de-sac". Whilst I tried to comprehend this peculiar metaphor, I briefly disregarded my job-prospect woes but the ominous fog of graduate nihilism returned swiftly to hang over me once more. I left the meeting with even less enthusiasm for entering 'the real world' than when I went in.
Preparing a CV would be a good start, I thought. It was a relatively quick process, having accomplished relatively little in my 21 years. Satisfied with my minimalist résumé, I set about translating it into French and thus making it suitable for the French job market. It turns out that French companies are allowed to ask you to attach a photo with your CV. Whilst this could be laughed off as typically French, I actually find that this requirement serves as a grave reminder of France's disturbing preoccupation with image and appearance.
I imagine that a photo of a prospective employee allows businesses to positively discriminate and fill their race/gender 'quotas'. You would have thought that a name alone would suffice when identifying sex or even ethnicity, but in a country where there are men called Jean-Marie, you can never be too sure. However, is it not inappropriate to consider visual appearance as a deciding in factor in whether or not to hire someone? And if it is not a deciding factor, why is a photo necessary in the first place?
Unfortunately, this fascination with the aesthetic cannot be excused as French idiosyncrasy as it stretches further than the CV. A friend of mine, a recent graduate working in Paris, is so fed up with her company's "appearance complex" that she is handing in her notice. As an employee she is 'obliged' to wear high heels and nail polish on a daily basis - things she would probably do anyway, but the fact that its company policy simply reminds her of the prehistoric standards many French businesses seem to set.
Her job, to recruit 'hostesses' to work in cloak rooms at private events and conferences, is made all the more difficult by the fact that she's not allowed to hire 'fat' or 'ugly' women. This brazen discrimination turns her stomach, and quite rightly so. As I prepare to enter the unpromising world of the graduate job market, the last thing I want to think about is whether or not I look good enough for a job. I don't wish to open the can of worms of discrimination in the work place, but in a forward-thinking, liberal state, how can this kind of shameful practice be overlooked, let alone sanctioned?