Class issues and getting hired

I was in a bookstore for a long time yesterday. One book that I was skimmed was about interviewing. Another book that I skimmed was about "straddlers", people raised blue collar who went to college and got white collar jobs, and the conflict of values that they faced. That reminded me of my recent series of job interviews, the mixed messages that I seemed to be getting, and not getting hired.
First off, is it considered legal or appropriate to ask class related questions such as questions about family background such as "Were you the first member of your family to go to college? or "What did your parents do for a living?" I was asked these questions during separate times during the interview process by different people.
For people have come from diverse class backgrounds like the "straddlers", being a child of an interclass relationship, or having big changes in ones socioeconomic status should such applicants be careful to emphasize things one way or the other.
It might seem obvious that people who seem low class might not get professional jobs even if they are qualified. Do people who seem upper middle class have trouble getting hands on front line management positions such as in manufacturing? When applying for a more hands on manageement position such as manufacturing should one "dress down." Should one avoid mentioning belonging to a sorority? Should one qualify the answer to the college question when it is "I was the fourth generation to attend college." How should one reply when it is implied that one might not get along with "working class labor" without sounding defensive.

Getting hired is a simple matter of thoroughly researching the company and position you apply for. Find out how people in the position you want dress, and be sure to dress the same. Find out what church the people in a position to hire you belong to, and join it. Find out what colleges and fraternities/sororities the people doing the hiring went to or belonged to, and if yours are traditionally not friendly with theirs, try not to mention them, but if yours coincide, stress them. Don't worry about being able to get along with working class labor, just show that you are loyal to management. If possible, do the "6 degrees of separation" bit, and see if you can locate any personal friends or relatives of those who do the hiring to put in a good word for you. But above all, be absolutely certain that the company can't transfer you to their office in Iraq.

One summer, I had a temp job doing filing at a relatively small company. I overheard the HR person and the department head of the position being offered discussing a candidate. The HR person said several things about the candidate that the department head commented. Then the HR person said "And she goes to Paul's (company president)church." The department head said "Alright, let's hire her."
I haven't joined a church yet. Hmmm... No, that sort of thing is against my religion.

That is how we got into this mess in the first place. In 1982 when I was applying as the second female in the area to get a Bio-Medical technology degree things were very obvious. You did have to belong to a certain church here in the Twin Cities and it helped if you had a military background. That is just plain wrong and besides if you would change your religion for a job what would you do to keep it or advance.

I also had the problem of needing to dress up for the first administrative interview, suit, nylons pumps and dress down for the interview with the boss, pants, shoes you could work in. If I had both interviews on the same day I could not be hired because one or the other would blackball me. At the time they were very forthcoming on why I was always #2. (The industry lost 60% of its jobs in the two years after I graduated I ended up dong other electronics successfully but it was not what I wanted to do.)

The instructor at Hennipen County, a Russian by birth went to train people in SA for the illegal wars going on there. He wouldn't allow any women in his class and it was only by getting something on one of the instructors who felt the same way that I managed to get through my schooling. I threatened him with it but only to give me credit for the work that I did, nothing more. I hated doing that but I was a single parent of two young sons.

Those that did get the jobs I didn't were mostly laid off within two years. So they sold their soul for nothing.

I could always find a way to do the work of three people and be a good coworker. I was always told I could come back any time in the jobs that I have had. But damn if I am going to join a church or do things illegal or immoral for a job.

... it just matters that I know the secret fraternity handshake?

I've interviewed and hired many people over the years, and I've seen it go both ways. I've met many HR people who assume that people raised in blue collar households, while perhaps holding a white collar education, would still hold blue collar personalities and wouldn't understand the "etiquette" of working in a professional office environment. I was once told by an otherwise liberal HR director that you "shouldn't hire Mexicans for professional jobs because people raised by fieldworkers don't do well cooped up behind a desk". Boy did I ever let her have it for that one :grr:

To be fair, many people (including myself) actually give PREFERENCE to white collar workers from blue collar backgrounds. The fact that they had the drive and initiative to get their education and improve themselves makes them better employees, in my book, than some preppy kid who's idea of hardship is skipping lunch. Adversity builds character, which is why most rich people are so boring.

when I was interviewing and hiring people at a social service agency, I tried very hard to be tolerant of different viewpoints. The non-dressing up thing used to bother me, but I was raised to wear the suit to the interview, etc. I always tried to hire folks who were diverse and ambitious, and tried not to let class stuff affect me. Although for the salaries we were paying, people who were really concerned about money were not in the picture.

Employers are allowed to be stupid, and base their decisions on ANYTHING they like, just so long as it not something that the law prohibits, such as race or gender.

SO when they ask you what your parents did, say "They were philanthropists"

I told the truth which probably sounded bad to people oriented both ways (either favoring higher classes or lower classes). Both my parents had a number of different jobs. One of the things that my father did was that he was a rock musician, not big time, he made roughly the same amount playing as he did at his factory jobs which he kept on losing (I hope that I didn't actually say that). Considering that the person asking that was an older conservative vice president of a mid size growing corporation, I don't think that won me any points with him.