So many minorities in the government

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a white federal contractor I think it is great that so many women now in their 50s and 60s have been able to rise to management positions in the fed gov (I mostly work in accounting and IT). My mom is a similar age and she and my MIL always tell me that they felt they only had a few choices for careers - teacher, nurse, secretary, book keeper.

I love that my fed clients are ethnically diverse, from a variety of backgrounds, and some have handicaps that are accommodated. It makes my company hire more diverse people so that we "look like the client".

Sometimes it's tough to relate to people different than you, but in my experience diverse teams are more innovative because people with different experiences approach problems differently.

Nicely, Nicely worded. Thank you !

[Anonymous]

My degree and background is in Public Health and I've been applying for Public Health Analyst position. Any suggestions on how I can obtain this position?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My degree and background is in Public Health and I've been applying for Public Health Analyst position. Any suggestions on how I can obtain this position?

Are you the OP? If so, I would start by not being racist anymore. It is a turn off to employers.

[Anonymous]

It's not racist to acknowledge that the government has hiring preferences for minorities. My husband, who has been a senior government employee, has been told multiple times that positions are reserved for women and minorities. Luckily, he is in the private sector and thriving well. When the government people contact him asking for suggestions for possible appointees, though, they now almost always specify they are seeking women and minorities. I am all for diversity, but this has really gone too far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My degree and background is in Public Health and I've been applying for Public Health Analyst position. Any suggestions on how I can obtain this position?

Are you the OP? If so, I would start by not being racist anymore. It is a turn off to employers.

Yes I'm the OP and I'm far from racists. I was stating an observation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not racist to acknowledge that the government has hiring preferences for minorities. My husband, who has been a senior government employee, has been told multiple times that positions are reserved for women and minorities. Luckily, he is in the private sector and thriving well. When the government people contact him asking for suggestions for possible appointees, though, they now almost always specify they are seeking women and minorities. I am all for diversity, but this has really gone too far.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not racist to acknowledge that the government has hiring preferences for minorities. My husband, who has been a senior government employee, has been told multiple times that positions are reserved for women and minorities. Luckily, he is in the private sector and thriving well. When the government people contact him asking for suggestions for possible appointees, though, they now almost always specify they are seeking women and minorities. I am all for diversity, but this has really gone too far.

Well, the OP is a woman, right? So if she's not getting hired, she is not a good candidate.

[Anonymous]

Oh geez....I was going to add some tips. I am a hiring officer in my agency and I am a minority. Never mind! I am not in the mood for this "White people as victims" crap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a white federal contractor I think it is great that so many women now in their 50s and 60s have been able to rise to management positions in the fed gov (I mostly work in accounting and IT). My mom is a similar age and she and my MIL always tell me that they felt they only had a few choices for careers - teacher, nurse, secretary, book keeper.

I love that my fed clients are ethnically diverse, from a variety of backgrounds, and some have handicaps that are accommodated. It makes my company hire more diverse people so that we "look like the client".

Sometimes it's tough to relate to people different than you, but in my experience diverse teams are more innovative because people with different experiences approach problems differently.

Well said! I like this cross posted over at the education threads as an answer to "how to my kids learn from going to school with FARMS, ESOL and minority kids."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not racist to acknowledge that the government has hiring preferences for minorities. My husband, who has been a senior government employee, has been told multiple times that positions are reserved for women and minorities. Luckily, he is in the private sector and thriving well. When the government people contact him asking for suggestions for possible appointees, though, they now almost always specify they are seeking women and minorities. I am all for diversity, but this has really gone too far.

Well, the OP is a woman, right? So if she's not getting hired, she is not a good candidate.

+1 Ex-friggin-actly! If she is in a preference class and cannot get hired, she needs to look in the mirror and on her damn resume! Heck, all of the public health professionals I know in the government are White.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not racist to acknowledge that the government has hiring preferences for minorities. My husband, who has been a senior government employee, has been told multiple times that positions are reserved for women and minorities. Luckily, he is in the private sector and thriving well. When the government people contact him asking for suggestions for possible appointees, though, they now almost always specify they are seeking women and minorities. I am all for diversity, but this has really gone too far.

In my government experience, the push for women and minorities is to try to overcome some of the glaringly obvious discrepancies. I'm in IT and used to go to many levels of meetings from users to developers to managers and then I'd get to the executive level meetings and all of a sudden it was all 50 year-old white men. It is embarrassing in some offices, especially in such a diverse area as DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh geez....I was going to add some tips. I am a hiring officer in my agency and I am a minority. Never mind! I am not in the mood for this "White people as victims" crap.

Be lucky you have never been told that you cannot have a job due to race. I was with one of the local government's. There are very few white people hired. I was told by my white supervisor that she was instructed to hire a minority. I got very lucky with her but there was clear discrimination and it was obvious by who was getting promoted (people who we had to help do their work as they couldn't hack it).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not racist to acknowledge that the government has hiring preferences for minorities. My husband, who has been a senior government employee, has been told multiple times that positions are reserved for women and minorities. Luckily, he is in the private sector and thriving well. When the government people contact him asking for suggestions for possible appointees, though, they now almost always specify they are seeking women and minorities. I am all for diversity, but this has really gone too far.

And you and the OP KNOW that this is why the OP had not been hired? Do you or the OP know that a minority ultimately got the job that she sought? See...I have learned in my career that many people just do not want to accept the fact that they are not qualified or that they interviewed poorly. So they speculate and come up with external factors as to why they did not get the job. Believe it or not, the government job market is VERY competitive for positions that require a college degree. For all we know, OP applied for a position with 1000 applicants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh geez....I was going to add some tips. I am a hiring officer in my agency and I am a minority. Never mind! I am not in the mood for this "White people as victims" crap.

Be lucky you have never been told that you cannot have a job due to race. I was with one of the local government's. There are very few white people hired. I was told by my white supervisor that she was instructed to hire a minority. I got very lucky with her but there was clear discrimination and it was obvious by who was getting promoted (people who we had to help do their work as they couldn't hack it).

You are seriously advising a minority to feel lucky that she has never been been told that she has been denied a job due to race? Here's some news, since the beginning of the United States, minorities have been denied jobs due to race and whether we are told that or not, we are aware of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh geez....I was going to add some tips. I am a hiring officer in my agency and I am a minority. Never mind! I am not in the mood for this "White people as victims" crap.

Be lucky you have never been told that you cannot have a job due to race. I was with one of the local government's. There are very few white people hired. I was told by my white supervisor that she was instructed to hire a minority. I got very lucky with her but there was clear discrimination and it was obvious by who was getting promoted (people who we had to help do their work as they couldn't hack it).

How do you know what I have been told in my career? Heck, I HAVE been told that I was denied a promotion because only men filled the management ranks at the LOCAL GOVERNMENT agency where I worked. And they were all idiots. As a minority and a woman, I can tell you dozens of these stories. But your situation and my situation are FAR different than the one where the OP speculates that she is not getting hired because there are so many minorities in the government. You can say what you want, but if a White woman cannot get hired in the public health field, she is NOT being pushed aside for minorities. Her resume is weak or she is a poor interviewer. She is looking for a scapegoat.