What is the purpose of equal opportunity questionnaires?

I get the fact that companies have reporting requirements they need to meet but are these truly kept separate from job applications?

Should someone fill one out with every job application? Did you?

I essentially ignored these voluntary questionnaires since I already have a solid FT but I might move to a new firm soon and have been reconsidering that stance.

33 Comments
 

It's to ensure that no straight white males are ever allowed to break in to Wall Street firms. That would be a travesty if we let those guys in.

Amazingly, against all odds, some break in every year. How? I have no idea, since they are so discriminated against in the workplace.

 
DickFuld

It's to ensure that no straight white males are ever allowed to break in to Wall Street firms. That would be a travesty if we let those guys in.

Amazingly, against all odds, some break in every year. How? I have no idea, since they are so discriminated against in the workplace.

I want to start applying randomly to jobs as an Eskimo for shits and giggles to see what happens. My name is as Irish as can be-the Jewish equivalent would be Avram Goldsteinberg. I'd really like to see if I get a response applying as an disabled Eskimo than using the same name and saying I'm a Caucasian male. Really curious.

 
Dingdong08 DickFuld:

It's to ensure that no straight white males are ever allowed to break in to Wall Street firms. That would be a travesty if we let those guys in.

Amazingly, against all odds, some break in every year. How? I have no idea, since they are so discriminated against in the workplace.

I want to start applying randomly to jobs as an Eskimo for shits and giggles to see what happens. My name is as Irish as can be-the Jewish equivalent would be Avram Goldsteinberg. I'd really like to see if I get a response applying as an disabled Eskimo than using the same name and saying I'm a Caucasian male. Really curious.

Mick, is that you?
 
Dingdong08

No, but probably drawn from the same old school cloth though. From the same cloth as a bunch of old mc's, Jews and Italians that used to run around the street. My mom was one of the first woman equity traders for one of the to be Drexel roll ups in the late 60's.

Your Mom's a Wall Street Rosa Parks. I'm proud of her........she must have beat your ass regularly when you were younger. You could make a Broadway musical about it, if you so desired.
 
Best Response
DickFuld Dingdong08:

No, but probably drawn from the same old school cloth though. From the same cloth as a bunch of old mc's, Jews and Italians that used to run around the street. My mom was one of the first woman equity traders for one of the to be Drexel roll ups in the late 60's.

Your Mom's a Wall Street Rosa Parks. I'm proud of her........she must have beat your ass regularly when you were younger. You could make a Broadway musical about it, if you so desired.

She was a great woman god rest her soul. She used to laugh at the 90's sexual harassment claims. She smoked at her desk, got her ass pinched daily, killed the guys trading against her, could drink a sailor under the table and could probably kick their asses in a steet fight because she grew up in North Philly (in the 50's, not today). Old school in a way that people who say old school can't even comprehend.

 

Thanks Obama

"They are all former investment bankers that were laid off in the economic collapse that Nancy Pelosi caused. They have no marketable skills, but by God they work hard."
 

The purpose is that it legally covers the employer's ass. There are two types of discrimination: (1) disparate treatment and (2) disparate impact. The first type is your standard "my boss called me the n word then fired me." the second type is unintentional. The way the this can play out is that if you calculate the percentage of minority job applicants out of total job applicants, and then you calculate the percentage of minorities hired out of total new hires, if the second percentage is significantly less than the first one, then the employer might be liable for disparate impact. Even if it's just a coincidence that the minority applicants collectively were less qualified than the non-minorities, there still might be a case of disparate impact.

TLDR: It can't be separate from the job application because the potential legal implications are so great that race is treated just like any other desired attribute (i.e. possession of requisite skills, good fit, etc)

Gotta love that Labor Relations Major

 

I am going to assume by your comment that you are a poor white person who has never been to Manhattan. To equate minority status as privilege is rankly stupid and uninformed. Do you know how many native Americans work in manhattan? Do you know how many women work on wall street? Do you know how many full times have actually never filled out an application? But anyway, I have a saying: the only thing worst then being a black man in lower Manhattan, is being a poor white guy with no connections and a bad attitude.

 
Hugh Myron

When will applications have a box for "privilege" so you can literally check it?

Just one box?

I got referred to apply for a job and was specifically asked to mention I have a disability by the campus recruiter (I know them personally already). I got my existing job without telling anyone I had cancer while in college and how I had to bust my ass while working. It just seems wrong to do it their way.

 
Hugh Myron

When will applications have a box for "privilege" so you can literally check it?

Well having a box already opens up the door for a number of scholarships...

 

I think the questionnaires exist for firms and banks to monitor how far their recruitment reach is. Contrary to popular belief finance and consulting are not dominated by minority group. I am not white or a man and I still put 'prefer not to answer' maybe I should answer truthfully if it will help my chances of recruitment. I think it is ridiculous to assume the banks have these questionnaires so that they can discriminate against white men. The numbers and faces speak for themselves!

 

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