[quote=deadzone]No, that is a huge red flag anyone with like 5-10 different positions within 10 year period. In most cases it points to a problem employee. And on top of that, if you only spend a year at a tech job you’re not there long enough to become an expert at anything or to really accomplish much.
Also, why all the white hatred? For tech industry engineering jobs, Asian males are the dominant majority in my experience. I’m not feeling any sympathy for that demographic.[/quote]
You misunderstood what I was saying. There’s no “white hatred”.Don’t know Why you would say that.
I’m just pointing out the “unconscious biases” that regularly occupies C-level mindsets at US companies. It’s not as big a problem at engineer/technical levels since at the pure technical levels, most engineers could care less about race, gender, etc etc…everyone is a geek, everyone is equal.
I’m talking about management positions, like Directors and above. Because like I said, once you step slightly out of the realm of pure technical levels, things get a lot more subjective, and it becomes a lot more like a frat house. Take my current company. I’m the only asian that’s director or higher. We have about 18 directors and VP, and about 500 employees, maybe 350 of them engineers, a lot asian,latino,indian, african american. Besides me, there’s maybe 1 director that is african american. Why is that? “unconscious bias”.
You see often times, especially in leadership positions, whether you are “qualified” to do that job has a lot less to do with whether you can actually do the job, but more to do with “how well you fit in with the good ole boys” in the most subjective ways that has no relevance to the job function.
Take a manager position. In many situations people get rejected on the grounds of a “not fit” test..For example a predominantly white “frattish” leadership team that all think the same and always talks about say football, make their hiring decisions based on the subjective biases of liking people who are like them and like football and conversations about football….this sort of bias happens all the time, and leads to a disproportionate hiring disadvantage for people that dont fit with this frattish persona who otherwise would qualify for that position on skill. People who often dont “fit” into this model are minorities and women…I also like to specifically call out asian men too, because a lot of people don’t consider asian men as minorities by the number of engineers there are, and therefore erroneously conclude that there is no discrimination and unconscious biases that occurs because “just look at how asian engineers there are”… But that is simply not true..The fact is that while there are many Asians that are engineers IE “grunt workers”, there are disproportionately very few Asian managers or c-level leaders despite the fact that there are a large number of Asian engineers. And that is the crux of why some of us more vocal Asians are pointing out. In a pool of a large number of Asian engineers why are there so few leaders versus say whites?
But regardless, what does this mean for Asians who are highly motivated, career focused, who want to attain some larger career aspirations instead of remaining at a cushy job, collect a 2-3% raise each year, keep doing the same thing over and over again….Well, it means you’re really at a disadvantage and you really have to be a lot more proactive about seeking better opportunities. In general, leadership opportunities aren’t simple things you sit around on your ass and wait for someone to give it to you. And in a lot of companies if you’re minority, it will be a long time before you have that opportunity. A good indication is how diverse is the executive leadership team and how long has it been that way? If the c-suite is all white or close to all white. Forget it… you could be waiting until hell freezes over. For the benefit of your career aspirations, you’re better of using your current experience and knowledge to find a company willing to look past the “frat boy” fit test and hire you into a position based on your qualifications versus some arbitrary biases. There are companies that aren’t run with a frat boy mentality, so you’re be better aligned to those opportunities there.
So again, I didnt say i hate white people, or even think EVERY company is run like a frat house. But there are plenty that are, and while that might not matter when you’re just engineer, but anything beyond that, you’re gonna have to do something about it to break this glass ceiling created by unconscious biases.
Also, I think you misunderstood that I’m not lookingf or sympathy or complaining this happens..I look forward to breaking the glass ceilings each and every time. Im just merely pointing out from a career management perspective there are a lot of reasons why people move around. Some of us arent content just sitting around collecting a paycheck, complacent at a routine job, want to be challenged to do more, or to lead, or to do something bigger..and we arent afraid to take on new challenges and new opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t have been given to us if we just stayed at the same job expecting it to be handed to us, which is even less likely if we happen to be working at a company with a frat boy leadership structure…And given that despite whatever obstacles unconscious biases that might exist, it hasnt precluded me for going where i wanted to go.
As far as the shorter work experience being an obstacle to employment. Not really. Remember, I mentioned this in another thread. Usually it’s the recruiters of the company that are reaching out on LinkedIn trying to poach employees. And when I do interview with the VP or director, it’s seldom that my work history ever comes up as an issue. In fact, most of them have a jumpy resume too, if not worse.
