Refused Hire Because of Series 7 License

[wallrex]

I wanted to know if it is a civil rights violation for a financial advisory firm to refuse to hire an applicant who already has a Series 7 just because the applicant has the Series 7. I feel a firm is violating employment law because it's ads seem to indicate that they will not hire an applicant who already has a Series 7 just on the basis of this.

Thank you for your help,

[LawResearcherMissy]

No. Employers may set their own criteria for hiring, and as long as they don't discriminate based on gender, religion, national origin, race, or handicap, they can decline to hire you for any reason they wish.

[cbg]

Umm...what law do you think exists that says an employer is REQUIRED to hire you?

[wallrex]

I feel that I should be able to apply for a job with out being discriminated against because of my past work. I have to be able to feed my family and saying I can't work because I have A Series 7 which I got because I worked in a different area of finance is no different than saying I can't work because of my Age. I had to have my 7 to do the work I did. They may as well say no hires under 25. The place I'm applying to is a "boiler room" and my previous work experience was at an order entry level. Obviously "boiler rooms" thrive on youthful vigor. Refusing to hire a candidate with a 7 is a cleaver way to get away with ageism.

I do not happened to have an in-depth legal background, but to create a criterion to refuse to hire people that clearly prevents older individuals from acquiring the job, more so than young individuals seems like discrimination. Isn't it "defacto" discrimination? I do not believe an employer is required to hire me, I believe that a candidate should not be refused hire based on previous acquisition of an official license. I feel that license discrimination could come at the detriment of any specific group that has a high likelihood of having the license.

[cbg]

"License discrimination" is not illegal, however, regardless of what you may think. I can't find anything to suggest that you cannot take a Series 7 exam until you are over 40, or that you have to have worked for 20 years before you can have a Series 7. Thus the comparison to ageism is invalid.