Job hunting online gets trickier

CNN Money.com ^ | February 6, 2006 | Anne Fisher

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Friends, be warned: If you're hoping to find a new job through a job board or other online channel -- or if you're an employer seeking candidates on the Web -- the world just got a little bit more difficult. New federal guidelines meant to standardize how employers track data on the diversity of their job-applicant pool are taking effect starting today for jobs at federal contractors -- and similar rules will kick in later this year at U.S. companies with more than 50 employees.

[Puppage]

how employers track data on the diversity of their job-applicant pool

Yeah, lets make sure we don't take the most qualified candidate because we need to up our number of hispanics.

[jdm]

Diversity?

My keyboard was manufactured in China -- does that help?

[Clemenza]

and Blacks, and Women.

As long as women are the majority, we will always have affirmative action.

Besides the term "Hispanic" can apply to folks of ANY race. I always advise Italian Americans to check Latino.

[martin_fierro]

New federal guidelines meant to standardize how employers track data on the diversity of their job-applicant pool are taking effect starting today

You've got it made. < |:)~

[Zavien Doombringer]

It's about the contractor with the most qualified resumes, not hire people...

[Clemenza]

Spell out your qualifications clearly. "Pay very close attention to the specific qualifications an employer lists for a particular job, and make sure your resume contains those exact words," Crispin says.

For instance, if a job description includes the words "three years of credit accounting experience," put "three years of credit accounting experience" on your resume. "Don't just list a credit-accounting position with the dates you had it and assume someone will figure it out," Crispin advises. This may mean you have to rewrite your resume for each job opening you apply for.

Gee, thanks a-sholes! As someone who is currently looking for a job, you've just added another two unecessary hours to my job application process. F-ck you Feds!

[politicket]

I had Indian Curry for dinner a week ago...Am I qualified?

[Beckwith]

I'm retired now after 40 years in IT and 25 as a consultant, trainer and author.

In the last 10 years of my career, I avoided contract offers whenever an organization placed a heavy emphasis on diversity.

I knew that company was populated by less than the best and excelling was less important than politics.

[2banana]

Besides the term "Hispanic" can apply to folks of ANY race. I always advise Italian Americans to check Latino.

How does that work - I am Slovakian and German...

[E. Pluribus Unum]

How does that work - I am Slovakian and German...

There are no genetic markers for "race." You can call yourself "black" if you want, and nobody can prove otherwise.

[pabianice]

I'll never forget checking the box "minority" when I applied for a government job long ago. The manager wanted to know what minority, so I told him I was Jewish. He stared at me and then said, "No. I meant an 'approved' minority..."

[PaulJ]

You can call yourself "black" if you want, and nobody can prove otherwise.

Oh yeah, that'll start you off on the right track.In fact, why not cause a big stir when they question it, you're sure to be hired then.

[Semper Paratus]

I told him I was Jewish.

Should have said you were descended from the lost Jewish Tribe of Ethiopia.

[antiRepublicrat]

Yeah, lets make sure we don't take the most qualified candidate because we need to up our number of hispanics.

I have never met a hispanic software developer. Black, female, Chinese, Korean, Indian (as in India), but never a hispanic. Must be hard for a software company to complete that check mark on its government enforced racism affirmative action checklist.

[bummerdude]

Wow, I sure am glad we elected a Republican president to put a stop to this nonsense! (/sarcasm)

[politicket]

I told him I was Jewish

Should have told them that you like to daydream about Helen Thomas.

That would DEFINITELY put you into a minority class...

[tx_eggman]

Yeah, lets make sure we don't take the most qualified candidate because we need to up our number of hispanics.

I don't think they're the ones being tracked ..

[tx_eggman]

Gee, thanks a-sholes! As someone who is currently looking for a job, you've just added another two unecessary hours to my job application process. F-ck you Feds!

The tenor of this post would certainly make me want to hire your happy ass ...

[twigs]

My company just bid on a job at a university that had a lot of diversity language. We don't try to be diverse because we're very small. I am an alumnus and my boss asked me what had happened there. It being in the south, he would have assumed a little less craziness. When I mentioned that I had heard it had turned from being the conservative university I had attended to a liberal hell, we had one employee who stormed out on her way home, complaining about employees offering their political views; she overheard the comment I made to the owner. Yet, it was ok for her to come in during the 2000 election and pine about the possibility of the "wrong" person winning. Sigh. Such is the world we live in. It will ultimately kill our creativity. And with that, our super power status. And with that, the safety and security of the world.