I work at Raytheon, and was part of a 12 person team interviewing potential college new hires about 12 years ago. By coincidence, there were 12 candidates and four open slots. After the interview, all the interviewers made separate anonymous evaluations. The hands down winner was a kid from WPI, who had a pony tail, wore sneakers and a suit, and played in a rock band. But he had a child with his girlfriend and needed insurance, so he was motivated, and he really knew his stuff. One of the 12 was from Tuskegee. While he was clearly the most personable, I rated him last, and he did not appear in the top four. The selection process was headed by two women from human relations, one of whom was black. The recommendation (go nogo) process was not anonymous and, they could not hire anyone without all twelve interviewers’ recommendation. One veto was sufficient. I was was the only hold out against hiring him. He was so manifestly and objectively unqualified I could not recommend him. He was a pure bullshitter. The black HR woman was obviously steamed at me, but I would *not* relent. It was a long and uncomfortable night. Fortunately, they never asked me back, which saved me gas, mileage and time.
It was a long and uncomfortable night.
I’ve heard that Raytheon is making an honest effort to hire disabled veterans. As regards minorities in the technical fields, are there really that many that even apply? I teach locally and during graduation, our technical colleges have virtually no blacks (lots of Asians & Indians though) graduating with STEM degrees.