Racism/Classism in Hiring

I saw an interesting report on 20/20 – they submitted ridentical esumes using traditionally African-American (such as Diamond, Precious, Princess, or Crystal) and traditionally white names (such as Katie, Molly, or Claire). What they found was, more often than not, the resume with the “black” name was passed over for an interview in favor of the resume with the white-sounding name. It is also important to note that the first group of names is often associated with general lower socioeconomic status.
A recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research concluded that a person with a distincly African-American sounding name was almost 50% less likely to recieve a job interview than a person with a more “traditional” name.White-sounding names recieved 10 callbacks for every 15 that a black-sounding name recieved.
I’m listing the sources at the end of this blog entry. The studies are quite interesting, and a great illustration against prejudices and internalized bias towards poor and black Americans. It’s also put me in a tough sport – I have a “poor” first name, and an “interesting” spelling. When you pick up my resume KRYSTAL is the first thing that you see. What if that has been off-putting to potential employers?
What can you do if you have a non-traditional, or black-sounding name? My suggestion is that, depending on what kind of job you’re applying to, you abbreviate or initialize your first name. It’s a way to get your foot in the door. My next batch of resumes to be mailed will be sent off as K. LastName instead of Krystal LastName. I’m not ashamed of my name, but I’m not going to let a person’s prejudices hurt my chances of being hired. I recommend that you do the same.
SOURCE – http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2470131&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/29/national/main575685.shtml

Taking a Break

I’m still very emotionally tied up in this whole process. To be honest, I’m ready to just give up and go back to school, but that’s not really responsible or feasible right now. I’m scared and kind of disenchanted at the idea of getting a job in retail or food service yet again. I’m 23, a college graduate, and am really sick of that kind of work. I have a $35k debt and a piece of paper that says I’m smart enough and have worked hard enough to really do something with my life. So …. hello, opportunity, I’m WAITING FOR YOU!
This is apparently not something you can strategize. You can’t divide and conquer. I’m following all of these rules, and getting nowhere. I know a person whose father was at a conference, mentioned to an associate that his son needed a job, and, wouldn’t you know … he now has a job working for that man’s company. Did the person in question sweat, and struggle, and work to get his job? No. Am I bitter about that? Completely. If I can’t earn a position while I’m seeing others handed jobs with little or no merit … of course I’m ready to give up. What if a job that I could completely do well, and am easily qualified for is handed off to someone’s son or daughter just because the hiring manager is a family friend? I know that it happens all the time, and I’m sick of being left out.
If any of you lovely readers have any suggestions, or, as I’ve asked before, a well-connected father I can borrow, I’ll give you my everlasting appreciation. It’s hard for me to “work” my connections when I only have a single one.

Frustration

I don’t know how many of you reading this actually have jobs. If you are indeed employed, I’m going to suggest that you stop reading this blog. I have a lot of things to say, and, frankly, you don’t need to hear them.
This blog is titled “Frustration” for a reason – because I’m tired of this endless search for a career. I’m frustrated because my lower-achieving peers with better connections (or, let’s be honest, any connections – as a woman from a lower-income family, I lack the Daddy’s Friends network) are getting hired over me. I’m frustrated because I know that I’m qualified, yet no one else seems to think so.
I’m willing to do anything – even if it means writing classified ads 10 hours per week. I’m willing to cover “news” stories at the local Retirement Community. I know I’m not a terrible writer, because I read things by people deemed qualified to write, and they can’t even use the correct form of “their”! I’ve seen NATIONAL ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS use incorrect pluralizations.
I’m still really up in the air about everything. If any of you lovely readers can lend me a well-connected family member for a day, I’ll be your grammar slave for a month. I just need that tiny little foot in the door, and then maybe someone will listen to me. Until then … I’m unemployed and hating every minute of it.

Interviewing Really Sucks

Out of my four-month long search, I was offered two interviews. I went to one, felt really good about it, and, of course, was not chosen for the position.
I thought that I did really well. I was so happy to have any chance at getting a job that I practiced, read online review tips, and tried really, really hard to make sure that I appeared professional. I took out my nose stud, put on subtle makeup, make sure that my hair was perfect, ironed my suit, and made sure that I wore closed-toe shoes. I brought a copy of my resume in an official-looking folio. I asked questions, made myself seem interested in the position, and tried selling my proofreading skills.
I still didn’t get it.
After this interview, an HR representative from a publishing company (publishing is my dream career) sent me an e-mail asking me for writing samples. I was so excited.
Nothing came out of that, either.
I’m really discouraged at this point. I’m tempted to go back to waitressing, just to occupy my time. I’m applying to jobs left and right, and it has gotten me nowhere. It’s so frustrating when my peers are all employed – even more frustrating when their parents or friends of their parents are the ones that have gotten them these offers. I don’t have connections like that, unfortunately. Doing the right things – like volunteering, getting internships, getting published – hasn’t done anythign for me. I don’t know what’s next for me, yet. I guess I could always throw myself into sales.

Interview

I recieved an email three days ago – someone found my resume interesting enough to schedule an interview! I’m so excited that I think I might have given myself an ulcer thinking about it.
I have a suit ready, and proper shoes and all that. There’s just one problem – I don’t exactly know which company I’m interviewing with.
It’s in a massive suite of offices, and the position is definitely one that I applied for yet forgot to make a little note in my file about the position specs. Woops. I guess Lesson #1 in this could be that, in order to pull off a successful interview, know at least something about the company with which you’re interviewing.
I’m going to have to work on my nervous talking thing before then, too. I had a phone call from a library where I placed my application, and I managed to tell the woman that I would love to work there because “I’m extremely dorky and love to organize things.” She laughed, at least. I was mortified, mostly because it’s pretty true (my own bookshelf is organized according to book subject and size in a very impressive yet socially unacceptable manner).
Of course, I’m going to write about how the interview goes.

Work Those Connections!

I have one piece of advice for all of you out there in Internet-land – be fabulous at everything you do. I realize that it can be hard to bus tables with a sense of duty, especially if you use the job to keep reminding yourself that, hey, this sucks – but in a year, I’ll never have to clean up after other people again. Instead, why don’t you spend your time smiling and chatting with your customers?
Once upon a time, I worked as a waitress. It was taxing, irritating, and broke me down to tears on multiple occasions. I was great at it, though, and my enthusiasm for doing what I secretly hated leaked off onto my customers. I was told that I should consider a career with a well-known tax preparation agency – one of my customers who was especially interesting turned out to be an executive with said company, and said that my demeanor with customers was just was they were looking for. I might work that connection!
I am not a kid person, either. When my “baby” sister begged me to come to kindergarten with her to read to the kids, I only agreed because she wanted me there so badly. The kids were cute, but nerve-wracking. I had fun, though, and made a decent effort to connect with them. I went back a few times. This woman has offered me a letter of recommendation to use if I want to pursue higher education or a career with children. She still asks my mother if I’m in town, three years later.
Even if it’s not the career that you’re looking for, it’s still a connection that’s valuable to make. Think about that next time you’re running another basket of bread to the grumpy dude at table 4.