5 ms·

As a black IT professional, I tend to leave the demographic information blank on applications because I want to avoid the racial implications of my application.

As a black IT professional, I tend to leave the demographic information blank on applications because I want to avoid the racial implications of my application. I don't know if I'll be dismissed because I'm black and I don't want to be an affirmative action hire either. I made it to the 3rd round of interviews with Google back in 2012. Maybe if I had told them I was black, I would have gotten the job.

nojvek 9y ago
Oh man! The irony of this. Diversity hiring doesn’t help anyone. What if you had gotten the job and your peers thought you were only there because of being Black. They don’t take your technical arguments and code seriously?
- LordKano 9y ago
  I can't help what other people think. I know my craft and I'm good at what I do. Code that I wrote as an intern was in use for many years (to the best of my knowledge, it still is) at a former employer.
fhood 9y ago
If including your race gives you a leg up, then I think you should do it. I saw a whole lot of casual racism when I was in college, and if that was indicative of the experience of others then you don't owe the rest of us shit.
- soundwave106 9y ago
  The ultimate goal from my perspective should be to eliminate implied tribal biases, rather than band-aid them. There's a fair bit of negatives with trying to force the issue with quotas, in my opinion -- by hiring on grounds other than merit, it might even perpetuate the bias. Those hired might for instance be thought of as "second class hires" within the company from the get go. So despite the casual racism that unfortunately exists, I can see why the poster leaves his or her race off applications. In other fields, hiring can probably be done by ways that try to heavily reduce bias, and get similar increases in diversity without, from what I can see, the negatives of quotas. Some orchestras for instance have used "blind auditions" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_audition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_audition) for quite some time, with a noticeable increase in diversity as a result. I see in the Wiki that some tech companies are experimenting with this approach. I'd strongly prefer this sort of system over what Google has (if the details described in the lawsuit end up being true).
- LordKano 9y ago
  I would leave that information off because I had no way of knowing if it would be a help or a hindrance. If I apply to Google in the future, I will probably include it.
nbroyal 9y ago
Sigh, don't perpetuate this. Being an underrepresented candidate may (or may not) help you with getting your foot in the door for an interview, but no one is getting hired if they're unqualified.
- LordKano 9y ago
  I was qualified for the position but I got the impression that Google was just going through the motions. They got around to interviewing me a year and a half after I submitted my resumé.
znpy 9y ago
Unrelated, but this reminds me of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwMzZtU5H7I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwMzZtU5H7I
- briffle 9y ago
  It reminds me even more of the 'Woman Engineer' scene in Silicon Valley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dek5HtNdIHY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dek5HtNdIHY

nojvek 9y ago

Oh man! The irony of this. Diversity hiring doesn’t help anyone. What if you had gotten the job and your peers thought you were only there because of being Black. They don’t take your technical arguments and code seriously?

LordKano 9y ago
I can't help what other people think. I know my craft and I'm good at what I do. Code that I wrote as an intern was in use for many years (to the best of my knowledge, it still is) at a former employer.

fhood 9y ago

If including your race gives you a leg up, then I think you should do it. I saw a whole lot of casual racism when I was in college, and if that was indicative of the experience of others then you don't owe the rest of us shit.

soundwave106 9y ago
The ultimate goal from my perspective should be to eliminate implied tribal biases, rather than band-aid them. There's a fair bit of negatives with trying to force the issue with quotas, in my opinion -- by hiring on grounds other than merit, it might even perpetuate the bias. Those hired might for instance be thought of as "second class hires" within the company from the get go. So despite the casual racism that unfortunately exists, I can see why the poster leaves his or her race off applications. In other fields, hiring can probably be done by ways that try to heavily reduce bias, and get similar increases in diversity without, from what I can see, the negatives of quotas. Some orchestras for instance have used "blind auditions" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_audition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_audition) for quite some time, with a noticeable increase in diversity as a result. I see in the Wiki that some tech companies are experimenting with this approach. I'd strongly prefer this sort of system over what Google has (if the details described in the lawsuit end up being true).
LordKano 9y ago
I would leave that information off because I had no way of knowing if it would be a help or a hindrance. If I apply to Google in the future, I will probably include it.

nbroyal 9y ago

Sigh, don't perpetuate this. Being an underrepresented candidate may (or may not) help you with getting your foot in the door for an interview, but no one is getting hired if they're unqualified.

LordKano 9y ago
I was qualified for the position but I got the impression that Google was just going through the motions. They got around to interviewing me a year and a half after I submitted my resumé.

znpy 9y ago

Unrelated, but this reminds me of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwMzZtU5H7I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwMzZtU5H7I

briffle 9y ago
It reminds me even more of the 'Woman Engineer' scene in Silicon Valley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dek5HtNdIHY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dek5HtNdIHY