JOB SEARCH TIP: There is bias in the hiring process—a story from Dr. Clifton

Don was at a national sales meeting of a client. He heard people whispering about a man across the room. Although the man had on a nice sports coat and tie, he apparently had made a faux paus with his socks…

They were white.

Don found out later that the man with the white socks, although ridiculed, was outstanding. In fact, his hecklers didn’t know that later that day he was being honored at the meeting.

Don deemed his peers suffered from “glare”, where in this instance they were evaluating this man wearing white socks which, of course, has absolutely no relationship to his productivity and success.

If Don was alive today, he wouldn’t call it glare. He would call it #bias.

There is way too much “glare” in the world of work, too much bias, including in the #hiring process.

We must fight against this bias. If you are in the #jobsearch, you may face this because:

~ Of your age

~ Of your gender

~ Because you are a person with a #disability

~ You are #unemployed

~ Your sexual orientation

And, five months after the death of George Floyd in my home of MSO, there is bias because of your ethnicity.

I don’t have all the answers to fight this, but maybe a place to start is to do this—let’s name it. There are free training videos on the web site of my faith community: https://www.thetablempls.com/jobresources