There’s an interesting oxymoron involved in applying for
employment in the United States. Well, there’s a ton of them, but today I’m
going to talk about this one: the Equal Employment Opportunity questions.
Employers have to report data to the Feds on percentages
of employees of various racial/ethnic groups, sexes and disabilities; also
whether you’re a veteran (of the Armed Forces) or not.
Interestingly, I’ve recently seen more than two choices
for sex (or gender, as they politely like to refer to it these days),
especially for companies around the Bay Area. It’s nice to have options.
Now, while it’s mandatory that employers report this information,
it’s voluntary for applicants to supply it. I routinely check the “decline to
state” boxes. They try various ways to trick you into giving the data, but
there has to be an option to refuse to “self-identify”.
Now, here’s the oxymoron:
The drop-downs for each of those categories is a required
field. So it’s mandatory that you respond to it, even when your response is “none
of your dag-blamed business.”
So, I don’t really know how accurate that EEO data is on
a national level. I just know that they’re going to have to interview me in
person to make any guesses about my particulars.
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