#I thank the Lord for the harvest moon and the girl from the hiring fair

[overconvergent]

Some friends and I were discussing how to choose new employees, and one of the people there said that one of the things that he decided on was whether they had showered that day, on the grounds that if they didn't shower on the day of a job interview then it was likely that they would never shower and this would not make for a pleasant working

Comments

[purplecthulhu]

Difficult to assess if you're doing phone interviews...

[m31andy]

While it's rather a snap judgement and fairly broad-brushed (you might be 'discriminating' against someone who had legitimate reasons for not showering that morning), job selection is, in the end, discriminatory or, at least, subjective.

Of course, it may run foul of discrimination laws (not showering for religious reasons, for instance, or in the case of severe physical disability, perhaps) - then your friend would have to rethink that criterion.

[pellegrina]

I'd like to know how you can tell if someone has showered that day. Particularly if they have travelled by Underground.

[vescoiya]

Yeah that was my thought.

[johnckirk]

I'd say it's as valid as other criteria that are used, assuming that you need some way of reducing the number of candidates. Similarly, I'll normally chuck away any CVs with spelling mistakes, on the grounds that it shows a lack of attention to detail, and if they don't make an effort for a job application then they won't bother later.

On the other hand, this isn't something that I'd personally use as a selection method, due to my anosmia. I'd also question how literally your friend means this; for instance, I know some people will take a shower every evening, so would they be rejected for not having a shower first thing in the morning? Also, as other people have asked, how do you know? If you're actually asking candidates, that might be inappropriate, but if you reject them and then it turns out that you're wrong, that could also be iffy, particularly if the candidate then claims that you've discriminated against them for another reason.

[wellinghall]

I'd reject anyone who wasn't clean, but on the grounds that they clearly aren't bothered about making a good impression.