It is at best misguided and at worst simply absurd to discriminate against a candidate based on age, gender or race.

There are many reasons for this (including the obvious fact that it is just wrong) but the most powerful professional reason is that it reduces choice and possibly costs the entity the best outcome for its important position.

My colleagues and I have seen discrimination in recruitment hundreds of times and sadly still witness both unconscious and conscious bias.

So, what can we all do?

We find that when an ‘ism’ moment arises sometimes a simple polite question can at least get people reflecting on their possible bias.

For example, I have often heard the question “How old do you think he/she is?” Sadly, it is more often “she” in the previous sentence, illustrating a classic double bias.

My response is always the same. “I must admit I hadn’t given it much thought. Was there a reason you were asking?”

Another common comment is “Do you think he/she is on the wrong side of 50?”

My reply is “And which side is that?”

And one of the worst ones is “They have never worked in Australia” to which our favourite answer is “Yes – but this means that given this will be the first role to prove themselves here, failure is not an option so they will probably do everything within their ability to not waste the opportunity.”

So, let’s all avoid absurdisms like racism, ageism and sexism to instead embrace some more positive ‘isms’ such as optimism, altruism, heroism, realism, journalism, professionalism, humanitarianism, activism and idealism.