RageSpike
Involuntary Wageslave (inslave)
- Apr 25, 2024
- 1,187
In my 25 year professional career, I've chosen well in some cases, but made enough mistakes to learn from and share with you.
We're not supposed to talk about race anymore in America, the realtalk that's necessary for PoC to actually navigate their lives in this country is itself deemed "racist!" and shut down.
But insofar as we have our own space to discuss, let's take advantage of it.
You will make the following mistakes in prioritizing where to work:
* The prestige of the company
* The total compensation (salary, bonus, equity)
* Your general "feel" of the people you interview with
* Glassdoor ratings
I will explain why these fall short by way of the following dissection of work life in America.
Being Asian, we are the sociological "other". Which means we are perceived as threatening at some subconscious level. Regardless of how many Asian worker drones are at the company, management is almost always white.
This is a real challenge that shouldn't be ignored or be paranoid about. It's a reality.
More often than not, you will be smarter than your non-Asian colleagues. This will make you even more threatening, and the majority, secure with their power in the workplace, will at times act to try to put you in your place. Your boss, your co-workers, HR, even others in the organization. They do it unwittingly.
This can be a pure headache- being attacked for simply performing in the workplace. People conveying you are "arrogant" for suggesting different ways of doing things that they didn't think of. Simply being a confident Asian.
The alternative to being yourself, is to adopt a submissive, people-pleasing approach which is also a FAIL. I had a PoC co-worker who went out of his way to avoid this social aggression, and vocally agreed with his white co-workers all the time.
Made every effort to be friendly, not assertive. Later I heard two white managers talking about him, saying he was not "management material" precisely because of his soft, overly-agreeable way.
I learned the hard way so you don't have to that the single most important criteria is whether or not they have Asians already in management. Certain companies- Apple- being one example don't have a culture for that. Most do not. There are a few- Google, Nvidia, Amazon AWS (not Retail) that do. You'll find others.
LinkedIn is your friend. Search Vice-President and count the number of Asians NOT in technical roles at that position or higher.
Companies that hire Asians to this rank prove that they have a meritocratic corporate culture that doesn't permit the majority to step on high-performing Asians out of jealousy/perceived-threat. This is the crucial factor you need to be successful.
The wrong environment (most) will stifle the best, brightest Asian American.
Also check those Asian successes in the company aren't just immigrants; the majority gives a "immigrant pass" to Asian immigrants but not to native-born Asians. That's just as problematic for most of you.
It also doesn't matter what they say about diversity or others shows of "commitment" to it.
A company with a tolerant, meritocratic company culture will allow you to succeed through the golden mean of being assertive yet respectful in your approach to work. (Even at a Golden Mean company, you can't bull your way through the workday like perhaps others could).
Or you can disregard my advice and find that even though you're the smartest, most hard-working person at your company, you are caricatured as a the "problem" instead of the asset you are.
You can always shoot your shot at a company that doesn't show it has a history of meritocracy when it comes to senior positions. But if you do, exit soon once you see the tell-tale signs of a racist corporate culture. You don't owe your loyalty to such an organization.
If I could go back in time and give myself one piece of advice coming out of college, this would be it. Ignore it at your own risk.
We're not supposed to talk about race anymore in America, the realtalk that's necessary for PoC to actually navigate their lives in this country is itself deemed "racist!" and shut down.
But insofar as we have our own space to discuss, let's take advantage of it.
You will make the following mistakes in prioritizing where to work:
* The prestige of the company
* The total compensation (salary, bonus, equity)
* Your general "feel" of the people you interview with
* Glassdoor ratings
I will explain why these fall short by way of the following dissection of work life in America.
Being Asian, we are the sociological "other". Which means we are perceived as threatening at some subconscious level. Regardless of how many Asian worker drones are at the company, management is almost always white.
This is a real challenge that shouldn't be ignored or be paranoid about. It's a reality.
More often than not, you will be smarter than your non-Asian colleagues. This will make you even more threatening, and the majority, secure with their power in the workplace, will at times act to try to put you in your place. Your boss, your co-workers, HR, even others in the organization. They do it unwittingly.
This can be a pure headache- being attacked for simply performing in the workplace. People conveying you are "arrogant" for suggesting different ways of doing things that they didn't think of. Simply being a confident Asian.
The alternative to being yourself, is to adopt a submissive, people-pleasing approach which is also a FAIL. I had a PoC co-worker who went out of his way to avoid this social aggression, and vocally agreed with his white co-workers all the time.
Made every effort to be friendly, not assertive. Later I heard two white managers talking about him, saying he was not "management material" precisely because of his soft, overly-agreeable way.
I learned the hard way so you don't have to that the single most important criteria is whether or not they have Asians already in management. Certain companies- Apple- being one example don't have a culture for that. Most do not. There are a few- Google, Nvidia, Amazon AWS (not Retail) that do. You'll find others.
LinkedIn is your friend. Search Vice-President and count the number of Asians NOT in technical roles at that position or higher.
Companies that hire Asians to this rank prove that they have a meritocratic corporate culture that doesn't permit the majority to step on high-performing Asians out of jealousy/perceived-threat. This is the crucial factor you need to be successful.
The wrong environment (most) will stifle the best, brightest Asian American.
Also check those Asian successes in the company aren't just immigrants; the majority gives a "immigrant pass" to Asian immigrants but not to native-born Asians. That's just as problematic for most of you.
It also doesn't matter what they say about diversity or others shows of "commitment" to it.
A company with a tolerant, meritocratic company culture will allow you to succeed through the golden mean of being assertive yet respectful in your approach to work. (Even at a Golden Mean company, you can't bull your way through the workday like perhaps others could).
Or you can disregard my advice and find that even though you're the smartest, most hard-working person at your company, you are caricatured as a the "problem" instead of the asset you are.
You can always shoot your shot at a company that doesn't show it has a history of meritocracy when it comes to senior positions. But if you do, exit soon once you see the tell-tale signs of a racist corporate culture. You don't owe your loyalty to such an organization.
If I could go back in time and give myself one piece of advice coming out of college, this would be it. Ignore it at your own risk.
