Photo request

LegacyUser

A job I applied for has just sent me a thank you note and asked that I sent them a recent photo of myself.

What is this about? Is it even legal?

The job isn't in the entertainment industries and is office based.

They also want to know my salary expectations. I never know how to answer this question so any thoughts on this would be great.

Thanks!

Stheno

You it's perfectly OK for them to ask for a photo

Irish_Elect_Eng

Photo Request:

Yes, this is perfectly legal. It is also perfectly legal to not hire a person because you think that they are ugly, have poor taste in shoes, a bad haircut, etc, etc, etc.... :-) :-(

But it is not normally done as it can open up the employer to a claim of discrimination based on the information contained in the photo, age, sex, sometimes religion. So most employers do not normally do this. But to be honest, most of that information is indirectly contained in your CV anyways. A poor employer will discriminate at the interview if they are going to do so anyway, so it just delays the issue and wastes your time.

Have you asked them why, it is unusual enough that I am sure that they have been asked before? Where is the parent company based? Is it a cultural thing?. Is the role customer facing? Is the product/service one with a health/lifestyle theme?

Salary Expectations:

"For the role that we have discussed I would expect an industry competitive salary reflecting the role and associated responsibility that takes into account my industry experience and relevant qualifications."

If they have exaggerated the role's importance feel free to reflect that back to them in the salary negotiations :-)

livedadream

totallystumped wrote: »

A job I applied for has just sent me a thank you note and asked that I sent them a recent photo of myself.

can just be used so they know how they are meeting at interview.
or for their files

or for your id etc etc etc a 100 different reasons.

totallystumped wrote: »

They also want to know my salary expectations. I never know how to answer this question so any thoughts on this would be great.
!

this is pretty simple, tell them what you want to be paid.

in general take what you are currently being paid and add a few grand.

Birdsong

When we do a recruitment drive & are interviewing a large number of people, having the photograph makes it very easy to remember the person in the discussions afterwards. Nothing more than that.

Dermo

For the salary negotiations have a look at any industry benchmarks for your industry eg. http://www.glassdoor.ie/

Thoie

Presume it doesn't need to be said, but send them a headshot where you look professional - not a half naked holiday pic from Santa Ponza with a joint in one hand and bottle of tequila in the other

skallywag

I would not be concerned about it, in fact it's actually the norm in many other countries (e.g. Germany) to have a photo on your CV.

CruelCoin

totallystumped wrote: »

The job isn't in the entertainment industries and is office based.

Are you front facing or backroom?

Its not great, but if you were doing secretarial work for a plastic surgeon, you wouldn't want to be a butterface on the front desk...