What Is FOA in Job Interviews?

FOA is a term once used to signify that a person was attractive enough to sit in an area where they would be seen by the public. FOA stands for Front Office Appearance. When you interviewed with an agency, they used to note the letters FOA or NFOA (no front office appearance) on your application. It was kind of an industry trade secret since the meaning of the letters were only known to insiders. If your application had NFOA on it, you were NOT going to be sent for an interview or temp job if the company asked for only attractive receptionists or secretaries, for example.

Perhaps the letters are no longer used (I’d love to hear from anyone who knows), but the desire for FOA types is definitely still passed along especially by industries where certain types of appearances might not be welcome – at least not where the employees can be seen. And one can only imagine that without being written down anywhere, FOA-type preferences include things other than just attractive appearance. But because of things like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protecting race, color, sex, religion or national origin (notice “unattractive” is not included) companies that still discriminate have to be very careful when communicating preferences other than “attractive”.

Not a pretty side of hiring, but it is out there.

What Is Age Discrimination in Employment?

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