General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUnemployed Black Woman Pretends to be White, Job Offers Suddenly Skyrocket
First, I created an email account and resume for Bianca. I kept the same employment history and educational background on her resume that was listed on my own. But I removed my home phone number, kept my listed cell phone number, and changed my cell phone greeting to say, You have reached Bianca White. Please leave a message. Then I created an online Monster.com account, listed Bianca as a White woman on the diversity questionnaire, and activated the account.
That very same day, I received a phone call. The next day, my phone line and Biancas email address, were packed with potential employers calling for an interview. I was stunned. More shocking was that some employers, mostly Caucasian-sounding women, were calling Bianca more than once, desperate to get an interview with her. All along, my real Monster.com account was open and active; but, despite having the same background as Bianca, I received no phone calls. Two jobs actually did email me and Bianca at the same time. But they were commission only sales positions. Potential positions offering a competitive salary and benefits all went to Bianca.
At the end of my little experiment, (which lasted a week), Bianca White had received nine phone callsI received none. Bianca had received a total of seven emails, while Id only received two, which again happen to have been the same emails Bianca received. Let me also point out that one of the emails that contacted Bianca for a job wanted her to relocate to a different state, all expenses paid, should she be willing to make that commitment. In the end, a total of twenty-four employers looked at Biancas resume while only ten looked at mine.
Orrex
(63,172 posts)The fact that this story isn't even shocking, so much as it's entirely in line with expectations.
wilt the stilt
(4,528 posts)just ask rand Paul and the republicans.
cbdo2007
(9,213 posts)Maybe she should change her race to "Diamond"?
Response to cbdo2007 (Reply #3)
devilgrrl This message was self-deleted by its author.
JustAnotherGen
(31,780 posts)He's playing into the sexy 'Jezebel' stereotype.
Anansi1171
(793 posts)cbdo2007
(9,213 posts)where my wife, who is white and is currently looking for a job is getting zero calls, zero interviews, zero anything so based on her experience being white isn't helping at all. Then I conjectured that possibly there was an even better race that she could pretend to be to get the calls and perhaps she should start putting that on her applications. It was a joke, like the OP.
Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)madmom
(9,681 posts)Response to madmom (Reply #14)
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JustAnotherGen
(31,780 posts)No how.
You can pretend all you want that is just skipping through fields of daisies holding hands in America and there's shamrocks and gold at the end of a rainbow for ALL -
But it just means one is delusional at worst, naive at best and whichever one it is . . . has zero clue about the true face of America and what dark, evil, out to get each other hearts we have.
Response to JustAnotherGen (Reply #29)
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madmom
(9,681 posts)Response to cbdo2007 (Reply #3)
devilgrrl This message was self-deleted by its author.
treestar
(82,383 posts)So could be that your wife's field is even worse for blacks than the article-writer's field.
At any rate, monster.com should not require people to check a race.
Ms. Toad
(33,992 posts)there is an option for decline to identify which got the same response as checking "black."
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)I wonder how long this sort of crap will remain part of our culture.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)The way "Bianca White" tells it, it's more like an anti-diversity screening tool.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)These employers were discriminating against the long-term unemployed. In other words, it wasn't that Bianca White was, well, white, it was that she was new to the ranks of the unemployed, whereas her real identity was considered 'stale.'
The way to test the hypotheses would be to register a third new account, but listed as a black woman.
cbdo2007
(9,213 posts)Whenever anyone new posts their resume on Monster they get inundated with "job offers". Note that these aren't really "job offers" but they are spam. No matter how white you are, nobody is just going to email you with a random offer for employment and pay your moving expenses, etc.
BlueCheese
(2,522 posts)Also, people also probably look at new postings more than older ones-- after all, they already looked at the others in the past.
ETA: Obviously I'm not saying there isn't discrimination, only that this experiment by itself is not proof of it.
Xithras
(16,191 posts)Monster allows HR people to be notified whenever NEW resumes are posted that match their search criteria. It also allows them to flag people who don't meet their criteria to keep them from appearing in future searches.
The article says that she used a very old Monster account (years old). Employers RARELY contact old Monster accounts unsolicited, because the vast majority of them are either abandoned or are held by people no longer seeking work in that field. The Monster databases are crammed full of garbage resumes and accounts that HR departments really don't want to deal with. Her account, according to the article, was idle for a very long time while she went back to school, which would have made it unappealing to most employers.
Rule #1 when posting to Monster: Always create a new Monster account each time you go job hunting. Reusing an old account immediately puts you at a disadvantage. In fact, you should DELETE your Monster account when you're not using it.
Rule #2 when posting to Monster: If your current Monster account is more than a few months old, delete it and start over again. This will push your info to the HR people all over again.
Rule #3 when posting to Monster: Understand that Monster sucks, and that there's nothing that you or anyone else can do about it. It's the second worst jobboard on the Internet (topped only by Craigslist). I avoid it like the plague, and so should everyone else. Not only is it run poorly, but it's long been a haven for identity thieves, con men, and spammers.
Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)Orrex
(63,172 posts)I'm not exaggerating. I sent out at least ten each week and was unemployeed for over two years. In all that time I got called for 14 interviews.
Kind-hearted souls on DU at the time were happy to tell me to seek more training and to search "outside of my comfort zone." Well, I applied for everything from pizza maker to head of corporate accounts and hundreds of companies, and the offers simply didn't come in.
I should add that I have marketable skills, too, so it's not as though I was asking anyone to hire dead weight.
Inundated with offers? Nah. I wouldn't call it that.
The current example is entirely consistent with previous studies I've seen/read wherein minority candidates are overlooked in favor of equally or less qualified white applicates. Can't say that it's true in all cases or that race is the primary determining factor, but it's interesting.
Warpy
(111,134 posts)I agree with someone above that Bianca got more offers because she was newly signed up. Most of those offers were likely from agencies of various types.
No one is really getting inundated with legitimate job offers these days. If you luck out and get an interview, you know you're one of at least 50 interviews and have to do serious butt kissing during and after to try to make them remember you.
It's not because we lack education, training or experience. It's because there are fewer jobs out there than there are people looking for one.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)Caucasian and over 50. I repeat: ROFLMAO!!!!! Yeah, right.
CreekDog
(46,192 posts)at least have the courage to own that opinion.
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)I am just a little skeptical that in this economy, applicants who are perceived as white enjoy a veritable deluge of interview requests and job offers.
CreekDog
(46,192 posts)maybe you should read the post you're commenting on before you, oh post, something that the author didn't say in order to prevent being wrong and saying something dumb.
i'm making the generous assumption that you hope your posts are right and don't mislead people. i say "generous assumption" because you didn't seem to mind posting something inaccurate about Margaret Thatcher (in hopes of helping her legacy).
finally, in closing:
from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics:
White unemployment rate: 6.4%
Black unemployment rate: 13.2%
Boudica the Lyoness
(2,899 posts)I had a Puerto Rican friend who was named Bianca.
Anyway, this has been tried before;
http://www.hulu.com/watch/10356
Melinda
(5,465 posts)"Bianca is a feminine given name or an Italian family name. It means "white" and is an Italian cognate of Blanche."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bianca
Boudica the Lyoness
(2,899 posts)But I don't think the employers would have figured it out. I don't think it's a common name for a white girl. Maybe Susan, Jessica or Britney would be more 'white'.
Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)Ashley and Val are both masculine by default where I grew up, for instance.
tabbycat31
(6,336 posts)Someone does this and uses identical (or nearly identical--- ie substituting McDonalds for Burger King) resumes under the name Jake Williams and DeShaun Williams and Jake gets many more calls.
I have had the similar problem but with sexism and not racism. Sometimes I wonder if I had a name like Jamie if I would get more calls back.
Melinda
(5,465 posts)Oh, and acknowledgement to Teena, too.
AgingAmerican
(12,958 posts)...because they are Caucasian?
I call BS.
JustAnotherGen
(31,780 posts)Comments on this when it was posted last month:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017111485
malaise
(268,686 posts)NOT
hypnomoon
(1 post)I noticed a Hispanic friend of mine kept getting selected for product surveys and winning prizes often. I was doing the same thing but was receiving emails saying I did not qualify. I changed my ethnicity from Caucasian to Hispanic and was selected 8 out of 10 times. I have a regular, anglo name.
pinto
(106,886 posts)What's the point here? I may have missed it. Thanks.
LAGC
(5,330 posts)I mean, shoot, you can't even get the courtesy of frequent random police stops if you're white!
DWB (Driving While Black) though, you're sure to be pulled over! Sometimes twice in one night!
Why do they get all the fun and extra attention while I keep getting ignored, even when I speed all the time?
(Just in case: )
dflprincess
(28,072 posts)with Monster that not everyone is aware of.
Every few weeks or so it pays to go out to your resume and change a word - even something as simple as changing your address on your resume from "Ave." to "Avenue" will push it back to the top, making it look like a newly posted resume.
I used to do that when the calls started slowing down (I got a lot from contract houses) and, when I did, they'd pick up again.
If she didn't update her real resume at the same time, it's hard to tell how much of this was racism (and, again, I'm sure more than we'd like think was) and how much was employers just trolling for new resumes and ignoring the ones that had been our there a while.