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Pro
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But once again not posting
Not crashing anymore.
Remote people - best new shows on Netflix?
Anyone in Columbus tonight??
Tomorrow everyone is off work. Praise Jesus.
I bet the creator is an ex-consultant
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There are so many systemic factors at play here. Underfunded and segregated schools reduce the potential applicant pool. Then there's less family/friend ties to the field so they aren't as familiar with the career option as the representation isn't there to begin with. After making it through school, since black people have just a fraction of the generational wealth that white people do, expensive portfolio schools aren't really an option. Yet another obstacle. Let's say you do put together a portfolio. After excluding jobs that require unpaid/low paid internships, once you begin applying, you now have to deal with extreme tribalism. White bros are friends with other white bros. First and foremost, hiring happens through these type of referrals. Of the remaining jobs that aren't filled through nepotism/friend groups, you now have to hope if you are invited to an interview that you'll be considered despite inherent unconscious/conscious bias. If you've made it this far, congratulations. You've made it past every obstacle the average white person never has to face.
These are all of my Black, female creative experiences.
Pro
While I doubt the authenticity behind most of the “I would hire more diverse, they just aren’t out there” folks, in case there is a genuine difficulty to finding diverse talent check out this site that just launched: diversecreatives.com
Chief
 It’s ridiculous. There are major agencies that hired “diversity and inclusion officers’ at the EVP and SVP level years and years ago. They got a lot of great PR yeah trades for being so progressive! Those people have not changed anything. Wouldn’t a performance review for them be linked to how many diverse candidates they brought in? I have not seen the numbers move on African-American account people, planners, or creative, in 15 years. The numbers have moved up with Latino/a Employees significantly. And as soon as I did, a lot of white people started bitching about “Brazilians”. As a catchall term for all central and south American employees. But black employees? There’s just no desire to hire them I guess. Because any agency can. There are agencies like translation and Burrell we have plenty of African-American talent in every department. Do the big agencies recruit from those places? Again they could.Even more embarrassingly, many of the big agencies have African-American receptionist and admins.  it’s like the 1950s. But if the agency CEOs and presidents have their performance bonuses tied to increasing those numbers, you would see it happen fast. That’s what happened with adding more female creative directors. BBDO made it home mandate and everyone of its offices to have 50% of creative directors be women within one year and they achieve that I’m pretty sure. So again, this is very possible for black employees. So why doesn’t it happen?
Something to think about: a person who hasn’t had a ton of internship opportunities or had a less intensive marketing program or hasn’t had access to professional coaching or interview coaching typically comes off in the hiring process as a person who will need more of their managers’ time and mentorship and handholding. We are so often under pressure to hire folks who are ready to hit the ground running — even at the most junior levels. It’s absurd. We also involve people in the interview process who have had no bias training or legal training. That should be illegal. Both things unquestionably do a disservice to candidates of color and their rates of hire. Something you can do if you’re involved in hiring or interviewing (NOT just HR people!) is to keep this top of mind thru the lens of racial bias and opportunity. How are you intentionally opening doors in the way you evaluate and advocate for people?
Pro
I’m also from south-East Asia/pacific, and in NY, and there’s so much call for diversity yet I only seem to get Caucasian candidates..? Can we really blame agencies for this when the applicants are all similar backgrounds?
I can say there are road blocks to being a Black Creative. And once you have a bad experience it’s hard to stay in the game. I’ve considered leaving advertising multiple times because of this. I would love a job in NYC, but with the amount of money offered to me as a Black female I’ve never been able to afford it. Pay equity is real and affects where people without wealthy parents or the ability to save can apply.
AA kids aren’t going to college for this field in numbers large enough to really impact hiring. Something needs to change at the high school counselor level in the US.
Pro
For sure - and this wasn’t my first industry... and definitely isn’t the most clever! I’d rather people become scientists then fall back on advertising when they lose steam and have other things to work towards... eh no matter how many times I rewrote that sentence I sound awful, but...
Where are you from? there’s a list of reasons on why that is.
Oh in terms of NA, toronto
Pro
Maybe they’re just not interested. Is that a bad thing?
Pro
Well that’s not what I meant in my head, but ok.