Racism in the Job Application Process

Introduction

Racism in the job application process is a troubling situation. It is worrisome since competent and skillful job seekers from minority ethnicity are discriminated. People of color, mainly African-American are significant victims of racism in the job application process. Their Black identity makes most white employers screen them out of an interview. People of color are discriminated against in the job application process because White employers perceive them as incompetent and unskillful. Depression, poverty, and low self-esteem are adverse effects of racism in the job process. Do job seekers venerable to racism in the job application process develop strategies to deal with the issue? Yes, this essay discusses the three arguments explaining how victim job seekers respond to racism in the job application process. The three arguments revealing how job seekers respond to racism in the job application process are resume whitening, self-selection strategy, and sexual orientation tactic.

Body

Resume Whitening

Meaning of resume whitening

Resume whitening is a prevalent tactic leveraged by people of color to deal with the problem of racism in the job application process. Resume whitening is the practice where job applicants alter information revealing their ethnicity (Sonia et al. 02). Besides concealing one ethnicity, the resume technique help job seeker hide their discriminated racial identity (Sonia et al. 02). A study by Sonia et al. discovered that Black and Asian Americans are the majority of job seekers who regularly utilize resume whitening tactic to advantage their employability.

Resume Whitening Techniques

• Presentation of Names

Presentation of Name is a popular resume whitening technique. A resume audit study by Sonia et al. revealed that two-thirds of the participants changed the presentation of their names to increase their employability (Sonia et al. 10). Additionally, these participants disclosed that they particularly replace their ethnic names with American-sounding names when applying for jobs posted by White employers (Sonia et al. 10). However, they noted that they only present their ethnicity names when applying for jobs posted by employers valuing cultural or workplace diversity (Sonia et al. 10). Therefore, American-sounding nicknames significantly help people of color conceal their ethnicity, thus resolving discrimination at job application process level.

• Presentation of Experience

Presentation of experience is the second resume-whitening technique. The resume audit study by Sonia et al. showed half of the participants leverage the presentation of experience to hide their ethnicity (Sonia et al. 11). They specifically avoid including working experiences that might disclose their minority ethnicity (Sonia et al. 11). Or they alter their job experience in a manner that present neutral race results. Lastly, these applicants only mention experiences that assimilate whiteness. The research by Sonia et al. concludes that both Black and Asian students utilize the presentation of experiences tactic to hide their ethnicity while applying for internship programs, attachment programs, or jobs.

• Experiences omission

Experiences omission is a rarely used resume whitening technique. The audit study by Sonia et al. revealed that a few applicants deal with racism in the job application process by omitting specific job experiences (Sonia et al. 12). Affirmatively, they omit job experiences signaling their minority ethnicity or racial backgrounds. In the study, Sonia et al. feature a message from a black female college student appraising the tactic of job experience omission. In the message, a black female college student reveals she often omitted her past black leadership experiences purposely to conceal her black identity while applying for internship programs at companies managed by White cultures (Sonia et al. 12). The study by Sonia et al. discovered between Black and Asian students, Blacks students mostly omit their Black experiences when applying for internship programs, attachment programs, or jobs.

Motives for Resume Whitening

• Assimilation

Assimilation motive is the primary reason why people of color engage in resume whitening practice. The findings by Sonia et al. unearthed third-quarter of the study’s participants leveraged resume whitening practice to signal assimilation (Sonia et al. 14). In other words, they believed that resume whitening is the one way of identifying or associating themselves with the White culture (Sonia et al. 14). For instance, by replacing Blacks names with American sounding names, the Black job seekers successfully fit with white employers and prospective white coworkers. Equality is the ultimate goal for people of color who assimilate with white culture in a labor market dominated by white employers.

• Foot in the Door

Foot in the door is the second reason people of color engage in resume whitening practice. The research study by Sonia et al. reported that foot in the door is the primary motive explaining why Black and Asian students leverage the resume whitening tactic (Sonia et al. 15). These respondents praised resume whitening since the tactic enables them to step the offices belonging to White employers (Sonia et al. 15). They step in White employers’ officers since resume whitening hide their minority ethnicity, tempting White employers to screen them for interview. Therefore, resume whitening technique help job seekers coming from minority ethnicity increase their job interview chances twice, especially in a market dominated by white employers.

Self-select strategy

Meaning

Self-select is a traditional strategy used by job applicants vulnerable to racism in the job application process. Self-select is when a job seeker gathers informative data revealing a prospective employer’s strengths and weaknesses (Devah and David 1006). By gathering these data, a job seeker proceeds to make informed decisions evaluating the need for or not to proceed with a job application process. Two assumptions drive self-select. The first assumption allows the job seekers to continue with the job application process if the gathered data fails to disclose discriminations signals. The second assumption discourages job seekers from using their resources while applying for a job when the mobilized data discloses signs of discrimination. The African-American makes up the majority of job seekers who utilize self-selection practice during the job search processes.

Self-select Techniques

• Reputation screening

Screening an employer’s reputation is the primary self-selection technique used by job applicants to deal with discrimination in the job application process. Reputation refers to the public views describing an employer’s behavioral (Devah and David 1015). An employer branding’s value is the metric used to measure an organization’s reputation. Thus, job seekers from minority ethnicity look for employers with priceless branding value since such high branding values signal the presence of equality (Devah and David 1015). A high branding value also implies employers hire competent applicants, leaving no room for racism in the job application process. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is a perfect multinational company receiving good Blacks resumes since it has a high employer branding value. The high employer branding value signs that the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is reputable for job equality and cultural inclusiveness.

• An organization’s culture screening

Screening an organization’s culture is the second primary self-selection technique used by Black-African job seekers to resolve racism in the job application problem. An organization’s culture reveals an employer’s practices of protecting the employees’ interests (Devah and David 1020). Therefore, Black-African looks for organizations whose culture emphasizes the essence of cultural diversity (Devah and David 1020). They also shy away from applying for jobs posted by companies whose culture fails to signal any marks of cultural diversity. Amazon is an example of a multinational company that receives plenty Blacks resumes since the company’s culture prioritizes cultural diversity and inclusiveness.

Self-select Motives

• Adaptation to labor market discrimination motive

Racism in the labor market is a common problem facing people of color. It has been a common problem that resulted in discrimination against African-American since the 17^th Century. Therefore, as confirmed by Dejah and David’s study, African-Americans practice self-selection practice primarily to adapt to labor market discrimination (Devah and David 1035). Therefore, African-American implicitly accept the presence of racism in the labor market. They, thus, believe self-selection is a permanent solution for dealing with racism in the job application process. Dejah and David discover that self-selection practice helps African-Americans adapt to labor market discrimination by helping them identify prospective employers who acknowledge cultural diversity.

Sexual orientation tactic 150

Meaning

Besides resume whitening, sexual orientation is a modern tactic used by people of color to address racism in the job application process. Sexual orientation is disclosing one’s sexual identity that advantages one’s employability (David 75). It is also a tactic of failing to disclose one’s sexual identity that disadvantages one’s employability. Black men are the majority of job seekers who reveals their contradicting sexual orientation purposely to overcome discrimination at the job application level.

Technique

• Gay

Gay is an essential sexual orientation technique. Black men used to favor their job application processes. A survey experiment by David discovered that White employers are more comfortable awarding jobs to gay Black men than gay white men (David 80). Gay advantages Black men during a job application process since it signifies assimilation into the White culture, winning the White employers’ trust. David notes that gayism is among the few elements that create equality between Black and White men.

Conclusion

In conclusion, resume whitening, self-selection strategy, and sexual orientation tactics are the three arguments revealing how job seekers respond to racism in the job application process. People of color, such as Asian and African Americans, whiten their resumes by including specific information, such as American names, that will increase their employability. Self-selection enables job seekers vulnerable to discrimination to evaluate favorable employers supporting cultural diversity. Sexual orientation tactics empower job seekers from the minority ethnicity to disclose their sexual identities, for instance, gayism, favoring their employability; also, sexual orientation discourages job seekers threatened by job discrimination from revealing sexual identities that lower their employability. Among these tactics, resume whitening is the most effective tactic for dealing with the problem of racism in the job application process.

Works Cited

Sonia K., Kang et al. “Whitened résumés: Race and self-presentation in the labor market.” Administrative Science Quarterly 61.3 (2016): 469-502. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0001839216639577

Pager, Devah, and David S. Pedulla. “Race, self-selection, and the job search process.” American Journal of Sociology 120.4 (2015): 1005-1054. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/681072

Pedulla, David S. “The positive consequences of negative stereotypes: Race, sexual orientation, and the job application process.” Social Psychology Quarterly 77.1 (2014): 75–94. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0190272513506229