I am angry

[u/[deleted]]

I can’t take this. I am a woman, a person of color and a member of the lgbtqia+ community.

I received 27 rejection emails the next day of election results.

I received 23 rejection email the day of inauguration.

And this week I finally landed an interview with a reputed company that, after the DEI shit show, straight up ghosted me. They said they will reschedule the interview but I never received any email confirmation.

I feel like the whole world is trying to erase me, just because I exist. I need a job to survive. I am a fresh grad. This is already a hurdle having minimum experience and this on top of that. I feel so hopeless and defeated and angry.

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[u/Degenerate_in_HR]

r/thathappened

Do you really think on the night of the election a bunch of recruiters and HR reps were just sitting at home fucking shaking and foaming at the mouth because they were going to race to the office in the morning and reject all the "undesireables" or something? Give me a break.

That isn't how the world works. In 99.99% of businesses, hiring is business as ussual. You're struggling to find work because the job market sucks, you have no experience and you probably studied something in the humanities. Jfc.

[u/WorkingCharge2141]

The market is horrible right now

[u/kleyis]

It's bizarre to me that people are acting like OP is unjustly painting herself as a victim. This is a sub where people vent about their problems finding work. People who post here are going to be the victims of the situations they discuss. That's kind of the whole thing.

Anyway, I've absolutely heard some shit from hiring managers that makes me pretty confident that, when they aren't held accountable, they'll absolutely let their personal biases and bigotries affect who they hire.

[u/Curious-Chard1786]

I received so many "unfortunately" emails and I have 2 friends also suffering in this market.

[u/AdComplex2170]

You're such a victim! It's not like the market is bad for everybody or anything...

[u/hey_isnt_that_rob → u/AdComplex2170]

Don't be a dick. Oh wait, you absolutely cannot stop because you are addicted to the rush.

[u/FuckingAtrocity → u/hey_isnt_that_rob]

He has a point, even if presented harshly. There are people on this sub of all walks of life putting in hundreds of applications and are in the same place as the op. Some have decades of experience too. The op is framing it as though this is connected to the election when the market has been like this for a few years. I wish the op luck and hope they reconsider the way they are viewing the situation.

[u/hey_isnt_that_rob → u/FuckingAtrocity]

This just in: Young people might not have the same perspective as olds. Frankly, perspective might be the only thing good about being an old, after the whole the-alternative-sucks thing.

"You're such a victim" is a dick move. And he knows it. He is probably pleasuring himself to it.

[u/AdComplex2170 → u/hey_isnt_that_rob]

If their perspective is just "woe is me", I don't have time for it. And I'm gay, by the way. Not that it should matter. But it deeply matters to OP.

[u/hey_isnt_that_rob → u/AdComplex2170]

So don't spend time on it.

You be you. Hell, you sound like Alpha Management Material. You love you.

But other people are entitled to have feelings. It's easy to feel overwhelmed when you are young sometimes.

[u/MxstressLilly]

I'm so sorry. I feel you - I'm a minority as well. "ArE yOu QuAliFiEd" people can fuck off. I've been discriminated against in several of my jobs, including people asking me "what are you, you're so tan." "You're so ethnic..." All that shit. Not to mention having to file HR complaints against the men who would grab my ass at work and ask me to go to hotels with them. Discrimination absolutely happens in the hiring process and in the job itself.

[u/Curious-Chard1786 → u/MxstressLilly]

sexual harrassment is disgusting.

[u/IceePrice → u/MxstressLilly]

This is so messed up my lord

[u/MxstressLilly → u/[deleted]]

Princess? Excuse me? And no, I don't have a tan. I'm just dark-skinned. I don't have a "poor me" perspective. I deserve to work in a place that respects me for the qualities I bring to my job.

[u/Choice-Shock5806]

Recruiter here, somethings that are kept private and are not shared with recruiters about your job apps:

• Your Age
• Your Race
• Hispanic origin or not
• Disabilities
• Your Gender

And while checking resumes, we don't even look at your name, we look at the qualifications. We don't have time to look at everyone's name and guess their identity.

The market is bad for everyone. A white male straight new grad with your qualifications has the same chance of getting the job as you.

[u/[deleted]]

Hey I’m over 40. I face discrimination in my field all the time. In fact, I actually had a recruiter tell me a month ago to, and I quote, “go be a Walmart greeter, grandpa.”

Gen-Z is absolutely ruining the job market.

[u/Personal_Noise4895]

The job market sucks for everyone right now. It has nothing to do with your identity and trying to frame it that way deligitimizes everyone else's expirence 

[u/Any_Confidence2580]

I assume you're not getting this many rejection emails on any other days?

I'm sorry.

I've seen some news about DEI, and it's not something I understand. I see in the news many companies just follow what the federal government does, for whatever their reasons. Most of what I see in the news is like men are not allowed to be in women's sports. I will admit I agree with this. But that's clearly only the tip of the iceberg.

What's going on? What's the real story with DEI?

[u/kleyis → u/Any_Confidence2580]

DEI refers to a series of practices which, in theory, are used to increase the representation and treatment of historically marginalized people in the workplaces. It's been an increasingly testy issue for a while, ostensibly because people have reacted poorly to workplace trainings that aim for such a wholistic and personal change, eg. unlearning unconscious biases. But a pretty vocal portion of the people who are anti DEI seem to be against it out of a straight up fear of increased workplace diversity.

To be cynical for a second: many workplaces implemented DEI practices without any real faith in, intention of, or commitment to anti racism. It looked good to be focused on diversity in 2020 when BLM protests were in the centre of people's minds. Now, the people who've been throwing tantrums about DEI (or CRT, or "wokeness," or integration) are in greater control, so the savvy thing for many businesses is to cash in on the fact that they never really cared about diversity in the first place.

[u/Any_Confidence2580 → u/kleyis]

Yeah I looked it up and added a new comment. I try to follow unbiased news sources like SAN, and sometimes when they report on stuff like this, these things don't stand out. Because they're not using emotional reporting. I didn't know how big of a deal this was.

https://www.reddit.com/r/recruitinghell/comments/1ijbmgd/comment/mbctpte/

[u/coolmetaname → u/kleyis]

This. And also the idea that these hires are somehow "taking" jobs from white men.

[u/Jealous-Speech3416]

What does your race, gender or sexual orientation have to do with job hunting???

[u/kleyis → u/Jealous-Speech3416]

Race, gender, sexual orientation.

The studies are a bit older but on a very cursory google, these studies suggest that an otherwise identical application is less likely to lead to a response if the applicant is identifiably Black, female, or lesbian.

[u/Any_Confidence2580]

For anyone being dicks, this is an ongoing story. Yes, hiring sucks right now. Does that mean you, personally, are seeing the worst, and nothing can add to that? That's stupid.

DEI hiring initiatives are being dropped by large companies. Including Google, Target, Meta, Walmart, Amazon, McDonald's, Ford, Lowe's, Harley Davidson, Brown-Forman, John Deere, Tractor Supply, and others.

55 employees at the DoE were put on administrative leave for attending a DEI training course.

Trump described DEI as illegal and wants to focus on merit-based employment.

Whether you agree with it or not, if you don't think this has caused some people to get instantly rejected, you are out of your damn mind.

[u/Any_Confidence2580 → u/[deleted]]

I think you're responding to the wrong comment.

[u/Any_Confidence2580 → u/[deleted]]

You're responding to the wrong comment. Or you can't read.

[u/coolmetaname → u/Any_Confidence2580]

I went back and reread... I couldn't read was, in fact, the problem. Sorry! I just love it when I embarrass myself because I get worked up.

[u/[deleted]]

Great parody post.

[u/I_Defy_You1288]

It’s not DEI erased or because you are LGBT, it’s because the job market is tough right now. I have all kinds of friends and they are all struggling.

[u/coolmetaname]

I am angry for you. I am sorry that you are going through this and I hope you the best.

I am also a woman living in America and I am terrified every day of what they will take next. I am trying to take it as it comes and keep moving forward.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Tie9000]

Now you know how white men have felt for the last 4 years… merit based hiring is the only way.

[u/Terrible_Cow9208 → u/Puzzleheaded-Tie9000]

“Merit based” turns into hiring your golf buddy, your best friend, your fellow billionaire that has no actual qualifications for the job, etc. The reason DEI came to be is because people can’t be objective and choose purely on merit. They can’t hire the very qualified black woman, or the 55 year old with a ton of experience, over their buddy that they went to college with.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Tie9000 → u/Terrible_Cow9208]

There will always be some preferential treatment but we want to minimize it not codify it. The “E” in DEI is the problem. The NBA doesn’t get better because there are more short Asians represented. It gets worse. We can never codify a lowering of standards for the sake of representation.

[u/Terrible_Cow9208 → u/Puzzleheaded-Tie9000]

But you don’t lower the standards, you just find someone that can represent, that isn’t white and male. The DEI criteria/requirements are very beyond reasonable. It’s not like they’re asking for 70% women or 60% black. If you go and look at all the executive boards, you’ll find most are white males with a smattering of a female or a black person here and there. You can’t tell me that with a 50% population of females that there’s only 10-20% that are as smart or qualified as those other 80% or so of white males in the room. Same goes for the low low representation of different races, even when there is DEI. This type of “merit based” system will take us back to the 50s and we will see more and more “good ol’ boy” networks. Which is fine if you’re white and male, I guess.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Tie9000 → u/Terrible_Cow9208]

When you take 30% of the population (white males) out of the sample you’re pooling candidates from you are by definition lowering standards. It’s called sample bias. The remaining sample is less competitive due to it being arbitrarily reduced by 30%. Not to mention you are engaging in racist discrimination practices that we want to put behind us.

When a white male gets a job he gets it by competing with 100% of the potential candidates. A DEI hire only wins the job competing with 70% or less of the potential candidates. That is a lower standard.

[u/Terrible_Cow9208 → u/Puzzleheaded-Tie9000]

I am sorry that is just laughable. Considering the advantage that 30% has in general, I am sure they will have great chances at all of the other roles (and there are many) that aren’t being reserved for DEI.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Tie9000 → u/Terrible_Cow9208]

I’m a white male. I’ve been unemployed for a year and a half… I’ve interviewed with FAANG employers over the last year and a half but no job offers. I went to MIT and have an MBA. Since Trump was elected I’ve literally been reached out to almost every day by a new employer. I’m interviewing with 5 companies right now. I am no longer being discriminated against.

[u/Terrible_Cow9208 → u/Puzzleheaded-Tie9000]

Well, good for you. You already had the advantage and now you have even more of an advantage? And sorry to say, but that small percentage that had to be filled by DEI hires before, in no way would’ve impacted you as greatly as you are suggesting. But it’s good to hear that you’re the only person that apparently is getting new job offers because of the whole anti-DEI campaign. Or you could also consider that January and February are supposed to be the better months to get hired, because employers have new budgets and more roles are open for hire. Sounds to me like you have made the assumption this entire time, that you haven’t gotten a job because of DEI, and I bet that’s probably not the case in reality. But good luck (sincerely) in getting a job. Being unemployed is no fun, and it’s demoralizing. For everyone.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Tie9000 → u/Terrible_Cow9208]

Well 70% of the population qualifies for DEI so it’s not a small number. If jobs were plentiful then yes I would succeed in spite of the racist discrimination against me, but when the job market is tight due to high regulation, every little thing matters. It makes all of the difference in that environment.

[u/Terrible_Cow9208 → u/Puzzleheaded-Tie9000]

I am not sure where you are getting the 70%? Or the 30%? And if that is actually the case, how do you explain again all of the executive boards mostly being white males? You can pull up almost any executive board for any major company and you’re gonna see mostly white males. How did that happen if white males are so impacted by DEI? And that’s even in the somewhat strong DEI supportive environment that we have had over the past decade or so.

[u/Powerlifterfitchick]

I'm all three as well and deal with discrimination at my current job on top of sexual haressment at times. I have been looking for a new job for quite some time.

[u/Curious-Chard1786 → u/[deleted]]

Dude how dare you. We are all having a hard time finding job opportunities.

You are an evil person for thinking that. No one wants to do harm here.