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Viewpoint: 'I feel like I was accidentally hired'

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Viewpoint: 'I feel like I was accidentally hired'

#121

Post by skrebbel »

ibudiallo wrote: post #107

Hey everyone, author here. It seems like this post have been flagged, but I'd like to add a little comment here so it may clarify things. First, a little over a week ago we were having a similar discussion here [1] and I promised I'd post my article about it. This is the article. Second, I want people to understand that this is a complex issue and the solution might/should be as complex. It's not a case of, OK let's…

Off topic, but I'm really impressed that "I promised I'd post my article about it" ends up as a BBC article. You talk about it like it's a Medium post! Cool stuff :-)

How did you pull that off? Did you just send it in, or are you somehow connected to the BBC already?

Back on topic, I can totally see those tiny little frustrations add up. Love that you're using it for good.

Re: Viewpoint: 'I feel like I was accidentally hired'

#123

Post by Baeocystin »

foogazi wrote: post #86
Edmond wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure where the author got his numbers from but if you read the full article, the author notes that the numbers/percentages themselves can be misleading, because that 3.1% could include the security guard who swipes your badge or some other peripheral role at a technology company. It is also true that Blacks do in fact quit the industry at high rates due to bias treatment; based on the number of computer science a…

> for instance you'll find much higher black representation in the public sector, specifically in the federal government Do you know why that is? Maybe government work is more inclusive, like the military

Accessible job stability and good benefits. The overall pay is lower than the private sector, but if you're looking for stable income first and foremost, working for the government is an excellent option. This stability will be particularly appealing for people who grew up in poverty.

Source: My father worked for the government, and my grandfather was a working-class immigrant who started with nothing, so money was tight.

Re: Viewpoint: 'I feel like I was accidentally hired'

#124

Post by Baeocystin »

Schweigi wrote: post #73
andreygrehov wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is an interesting observation. If we take a look at how different nations are distributed across big cities, we can see that many neighborhoods are race specific. A lot of cities have chinese, jewish, russian, mexican, etc. neighborhoods, meaning that people _naturally_ want to live with _similar_ people. What's more important, it happens organically. It's not like some organization or government forces people t…

I think making this clustering about race is too simplistic. Its about language, religion, food, values, culture. People like to be in familiar environments. Especially after moving to another country. Because of that its natural to end up with clusters of people sharing something in common even when there was no outside pressure. I’m now lived in three countries for a longer period of time and its interesting to fee…

I genuinely enjoy travelling and working in other countries and meeting new people. I also fully understand that sometimes it's just plain nice to be able to have a full conversation in English, not have to continuously explain cultural context, and enjoy my lunchtime cheeseburger while talking with another American. There's room for both experiences.

Re: Viewpoint: 'I feel like I was accidentally hired'

#125

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

Klinky wrote: post #72
RhysU wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The behavior you prescribe is itself a bias. Can we please treat individuals as individuals instead of narrowly viewing others through whatever lenses we carry?

This sounds kind of like "all workers matter", which ignores the current and historical challenges gender/race minorities have experienced in certain fields of work. If you are the majority it can be very easy to be blind to the plight of the minority. "I see a black man or a woman got hired, so things must be fine." I don't think there is harm in making extra effort to ensure inclusion of minorities within the group…

It's very important to ensure inclusion, and there's no harm in it when it's done well. But if you find yourself keeping mental notes of everyone's skin color to figure out how you should interact with them, that's not really inclusion.

Re: Viewpoint: 'I feel like I was accidentally hired'

#126

Post by mtgp1000 »

I feel like we are all ignoring the fact that literally any perceived disrespect can be blamed on racism, especially if you've been conditioned to look for it, and it's often impractical or impossible to prove otherwise, particularly once the mob has mobilized.

Being told you're a victim all your life can make you feel like a victim, even when you aren't. And now that victimhood is currency, all I see as a foreigner looking in is a growing unilateral justification for the oppression and deliberate marginalization of whites. Young white boys are already being left behind in school.

You don't solve oppression with oppression.

Re: Viewpoint: 'I feel like I was accidentally hired'

#127

Post by scarface74 »

Again, for context, I’m Black and I’ve been in the industry for 25 years. I have never experienced what the author experienced.

Maybe it’s because I’ve worked in Atlanta all of my career where companies are use to seeing Black professionals?

It could be that I’ve spent all of my career in the staid enterprise development space instead of Big Tech? Whatever it is, I can’t ignore statistics because of the anecdotal experience of myself and my friends in tech.

However, I have a 0% success rate with video interviews.

My only video interviews were the ones I had with AWS. It was a success. Again, I’m not going to discount his truth.

Re: Viewpoint: 'I feel like I was accidentally hired'

#128

Post by _y5hn »

octaveguin wrote: post #33
joshribakoff wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I try really hard to ignore color One thing I was taught in anti-bias trainings at big tech companies was that trying to "ignore" color helps perpetuate biases. It is important that if an under represented co-worker speaks up, you pay extra attention, explicitly ensure their idea is credited to them, be vocal when you agree even if you otherwise would not, help others to understand their contributions, etc. Biases…

Isn't that horribly patronizing? I'd feel offended if someone treated me with kid gloves based on my skin color.

Making sure everybody gets a fair chance and get heard, isn't really about color or gender. It's necessary in every human organization, no matter how fancy policies and human rights they claim to subscribe to.

Re: Viewpoint: 'I feel like I was accidentally hired'

#129

Post by jjeaff »

jschwartzi wrote: post #112
cowmoo728 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also unclear that private companies are capable of solving this. I'm not sure when we collectively decided that FAANG companies and private universities should take on a problem that was created by government policy. Government broke it, and government should fix it. Equitable funding for primary school STEM programs and subsidized childcare could be a good start. I get the sense that so many Americans have give…

It's a systemic problem, meaning that there isn't one specific cause. Government policy created the conditions, individuals perpetuate them, and the companies in question have the candidate pool that they have because of where they hire from and the expressed preferences of their individual workers. Because it is a systemic problem, there isn't a side of right and a side of wrong except for the few true malicious act…

Agreed. There seems to be this sort of broad recognition of past racial injustice among many very smart people. Yet they seem to have decided that at some point, the populace that created that racial injustice just stopped being racist.

I am of the opinion that past racial injustice is the larger factor in today's racial inequality. But that doesn't mean that current racial bias isn't responsible for a significant portion. We have to fight this battle on all fronts, public and private.

Re: Viewpoint: 'I feel like I was accidentally hired'

#130

Post by ibudiallo »

skrebbel wrote: post #121
ibudiallo wrote: post #107

Hey everyone, author here. It seems like this post have been flagged, but I'd like to add a little comment here so it may clarify things. First, a little over a week ago we were having a similar discussion here [1] and I promised I'd post my article about it. This is the article. Second, I want people to understand that this is a complex issue and the solution might/should be as complex. It's not a case of, OK let's…

Off topic, but I'm really impressed that "I promised I'd post my article about it" ends up as a BBC article. You talk about it like it's a Medium post! Cool stuff :-) How did you pull that off? Did you just send it in, or are you somehow connected to the BBC already? Back on topic, I can totally see those tiny little frustrations add up. Love that you're using it for good.

> How did you pull that off?

I had written the article to post on my blog. But a couple years ago I've had many journalist contact me about my previous story linked in the article. So I called in those favors and BBC was first to respond :)

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