This article explains the struggle for black America in today's economy. Many people today mention how "anyone who's qualified and wants a job can find one", or "as long as you have the skills". This proves to be untrue. It is not a difference in skills for candidates. This article explains the situation of Sikiru Tijani who graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University, moved to Japan to teach English, worked in city hall, translated/interpreted, planned events with local officials and foreign dignitaries. Today, he has worked in a part time retail job for over a year with no luck of finding a career. This situation of constant rejections is putting him to wonder about the race factor, and how employers feel when they see his name on an application. A startling statistic that this article shows is that black college graduates suffer from an unemployment rate roughly double that of whites. A really interesting study was done that tested whether employers would hire a Dylan versus DeAndre. It found that job applicants with black-sounding names were 50% less likely to get a call back compared to a white-sounding name. It's hard to believe that to this day, there is this drastic difference employment and stereotyping.
http://www.ibtimes.com/black-unemployment-college-degree-offers-advantages-no-escape-racialized-job-markets-1861838
10 comments:
Abby, nice article. I think one of the most interesting points was that the article stated that whites hold more powerful jobs and then help out their buddies. This type of networking and favors perpetuate the cycle.
Just an observation, Tijani is 29 right now and has been working in retain since January 2014. Assuming he graduated when he was 23, it was 6 years ago which is a long time since graduation. Usually, the longer you wait after graduation to start a career, the harder it is to find work. Employers are more interested in people who just graduated rather than people you graduated 6 years ago.
I agree with Ibs. Unless the career he has been pursuing back in the US is directly related to his work experience in Japan, then I would argue this situation is not a race issue. I cannot justify the statistics given in this article, which make a convincing case. However, employers care a great deal about recent and relevant experience and would also much rather pay a salary fit for a 23 year old who just cares about getting their foot in the door with a job than a 29 year old with greater financial commitments.
I find it interesting here how important your name can be when trying to find a career. I watched a documentary about this that showed similar statistics. Many people end up having to change their names just to become more appealing to an employer. I think this is an issue that is ingrained in our culture and needs to be addressed
I also agree with Ibs in that companies want to hire those who have just graduated as opposed to those who have been out of school for awhile. Those who have just graduated not only have learned the newest or most updated material, but they also are more likely to remember it because they were in school so recently. Also, Jake makes an interesting comment in how he states how important names are when trying to find a job. It seems to me that someone would be more likely to hire someone they know rather than a complete stranger when these two individuals have similar skills and resumes.
I also agree with Ibrahim as relevant and recent work experience is quite important for employers. I also agree with Kevin in that why would most companies prefer to hire a 29 year old with higher financial needs when they can hire a 23 year old, recently graduated person who would be willing to work for a lower salary.
The further you remove yourself from the workforce upon graduation the less relevant you become to an employer. Your skills become outdated and you look more and more like an old record. Companies are looking for 'fresh meet' where skills can be quickly learned as well as taught.
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