Optional Information

[jaila]

When you apply for positons, do u opt in to answer the black/white other or male/female question?

[Andre98]

I mark the race question, because if I believe in Afirmative Action, this is one of the ways it's charted. I never thought the gender thing was anything to worry about though.

[Pamalicious]

I always put down I'm black and Female and anything else I can think of that might give me an advantage, lol

[mystkev]

I agree w/Andre & Pam, anything that may help a sista out. I think that may be why this new place hired me, b/c I did not see any black people.

[jaila]

cool. ive been opting out but wondered if thats a good idea.

[Andre98]

You always have to consider this too:

Caucasians being the peculiar people they are (LOL)
just might actually think that YOU think your race is something to be ashamed of. Once they meet you, some may think that you owed it to them to let them know they were considering hiring a Black person and not a "regular" person. It's kind of like the way there's that awkward moment on thir part when someone you've had phone contact with meets you in person. You can see they almost want to just say outright " you didn't SAY you were Black" as though not mentioning race assumes White. That's how ingrained the bias is sometimes. They might think you were being deceptive because you also buy into the opinion, the mutual assumption, that it would be held against you. If Affirmative Action inspires HR people to aggressively seek minority candidates, it's probably also going to, once they reach a certain number, when they see you are Black, say to themselves, "we've got enough of them already". That's just the chance we have to take. Lots of times the ass covering corporations make the Affirmative Action officer a Black person, and that person CERTAINLY does not want to look like they are trying to turn White-Utopia Inc. Black too fast.

You could say (in the case of the phone person meeting you for the first time, if they have the bones to verbalize what they might be thinking), "well, you never said you were White either", or "you never asked"... well, NOW they're asking on forms like these. The "optional" clause is like saying "not that we're nosey but"....

[davinci]

often they want a minority to fill quotas, so putting it might give you a leg in over biff...

[HulaSista]

i have been lately and honestly, had a strong sense that i should wait to do this after i'm hired - they usually have to ask the question again when you're doing your benefit packages.

my name is so generic - no one would ever guess what i was. and for most company who visually don't are what they hire (disney company for example), i don't mind filling out the optional survey. but other companies in which i am unsure of their hiring practices, i question if it would be used against me or not.