Originally Posted by
jcountry
Some people are lucky. Some people check a box. I have been on the other side of interview tables and I have personally witnessed the “we need to figure out how to hire every single (insert gender/ethnicity here) who walks through the door” speech. Don’t try and tell me that doesn’t happen. I have seen it first hand.
I could provide specifics of people I’ve known, but I won’t. Wouldn’t change anyone’s minds.
To say that “white people” aren’t discriminated against is absolutely crazy.
Every single day, a white guy gets rejected from law school, med school, etc, and etc because “white.” Affirmative action is legalized discrimination. There should be no check marks for ethnicity on any application to any school or job.
How bout that?
Doesn’t that idea strike you as fair?
How is race/gender relevant to what someone can do? Why do we ask on an app?
Your idealism falls far short of reality. We have created a world where discrimination is systematic and required by law. The real issue from my perspective is that it’s never gonna go away. Affirmative action is just as wrong as any of the old discrimination, but it’s something we all put up with because it’s socially acceptable to screw people on account of what people who look like them a hundred years back actually did.
Not One Hundred....less than one generation. Nineteen Sixty Five was 53 years ago. I could give countless examples of how it was socially acceptable in my lifetime to discriminate against people of color and women. I saw it with my own eyes and even participated in it. I still do to a point to this day. I was born in the 70s.
I myself didn't get a second look until I directly spoke with a recruiter at a job fair and took every piece of advice he had and acted on it. It wasn't easy balancing regional pilot life, raising a kid and home life and finding time to improve my odds by volunteering inside the airline, outside the airline in aviation and outside the aviation for the community. But I made it work. That's what made the difference at least for me.
I was once asked to name a famous NFL Offensive lineman....I couldn't (I really am a geek). The person continued that they are all the same as they show up on game day and do their job. He said it was just like every RJ pilot looks exactly the same on paper....a few thousand hours of 121 time, a few more of 121 PIC, no check ride bust, college degree...great...but what makes them stand out? Going above and beyond...one way is job fairs and having the "elevator talk" about yourself clear and concise. Then it's all the extra stuff.