The job application I completed online today came with a warning. The collected information would be held on a server in the US. This fact was despite the fact the company to which I was applying was Canadian.

My curiosity was piqued. What hiring practice was the potential employer working around? The answer appeared just before the submit button. I was asked to declare my gender. Not asked as in, you may if you wish, but asked as in “no choice” I had to declare my gender. Canadian hiring laws do not permit employers to ask the gender of an applicant. The intent of that law was to counter the male dominated initial hiring prejudice inherent in the Canadian workplace.

A case could be made that the law is no longer needed to protect female applicants. There are much greater challenges faced by all regardless of gender. The human resources software that reduce every candidate to a binary code comes to mind. Automated hiring software eliminates the opportunity to express one’s creativity. Each candidate is reduced to facts, listed in the same order and reduced to the same character limit.

I can understand why. A job for which I applied last month received 567 applications. I know this because the automated hiring software of the organization spits out the exact number and posts it online after the application deadline. Not a lie.

To all of you searching for that next dream. You have my sympathy. There is still no better way to find a job than working your personal contacts.