Recruiting Firm Shares Best Methods for Attracting Diversity Candidates
Employers looking to hire quality diversity candidates can increase their chances by following some tips provided by an expert international recruiting firm that specializes in hiring sales and marketing personnel.
Tempe, AZ (PRWEB) April 13, 2007 -- International Search Consultants (ISC), a leading executive search firm that specializes in finding upper echelon sales and marketing professionals for companies in a strong growth mode, believes companies can increase the chances of attracting diversity candidates by following some key strategies. These include:
Advertise quality jobs - In your job description, focus on how a candidate can contribute to the bigger picture - don't just list the job requirements. The better the job description, the more candidates (of all backgrounds) will want to apply. Be sure to submit your ads in local business and minority publications for maximum exposure.
Get current employees to help with your search - Consider launching a creative employee referral program to get your staff involved in finding potential candidates of all ethnic backgrounds. Communicating a formal diversity program to your employees demonstrates that diversity recruiting is a priority at your company. Providing rewards gives employees an added incentive to start thinking of ways they can contribute to your diversity recruiting efforts.
Get involved - Participate in local minority organizations by helping to sponsor an event or contributing in another way. Perhaps you can provide employees who can speak at an upcoming meeting or provide scholarships for minority students at a local college.
Communicate your current diversity - Use current corporate communications such as your Web site, company newsletters or through press releases to profile the good work of your diversity employees or recent promotions. Show how other diversity employees are succeeding in your organization and that the opportunities are vast for qualified employees of all colors.
More about ISCFor more diversity recruiting tips, check out ISC's Web site at
www.iscjobs.com. ISC is prepared to deliver highly qualified sales and marketing candidates of all backgrounds and meet the staffing requirements of any size. To find out more about ISC and the five-star service they deliver, visit their newly revised Web site or call them at (888) 866-7276.
Source:
eMediaWireLabels: workplace diversity
Will Barack Obama Become The First Black President?
In the critically-acclaimed multi-awarded TV series, "24", we were introduced to the concept of a Black president. Somehow the idea did not seem bad at all. On television, that is. But when reality followed fiction, the public outlook changes and many people were not that supportive of the idea of having an African American sitting in the Oval Office as President.
Just recently Sen. Barack Obama, the gentleman from Illinois who could be a political dark horse, is thrust into controversy when he announced his intent to run for President in the 2008 Elections. Unlike his celluloid counterpart, however, Obama was met with criticism and skepticism.
Not Black Enough?His critics were skeptical on how Black really Obama is. Which brings us to ask: What makes an African American an African American or a Black a Black? Is it the color of skin, the bloodline, the place you were born and grew up in, or is it the culture you were exposed to? How does being pure or unpure Black decreases Obama's capacities to lead a country? How does race, gender or sexual orientation cast one's leadership skills behind a shadow of doubt?
It appears there exists a divide between Black Americans and African Americans. The terms here are used to define Americans who are Black, who were born in America and whose family have lived through generations in America as opposed to Americans whose family tree have a more closer connection to Africa than America but lived in the US long enough to be classified as a citizen.
Although Barack was born in Hawaii and later in his adolescence grew up there with his maternal grandparents, he wasn't considered by many Blacks as African American or Black enough since his family history did not extend as far back as the slavery years.
The discrimination on Obama is not about skin color or race, but rather that of culture and life experiences. What those Blacks who are unsupportive of Obama's presidential campaign are concerned about is how well Barack can relate to the authentic African American experience. Having a Kenyan father, a White mother, and growing mostly in Hawaii and for some time in Indonesia, Barack is viewed mostly by Blacks as "not Black enough" to understand what most Blacks of this country are going through or the history they have living in America.
Not Ready For A Black PresidentThis perception, however, seems to have changed as a new Washington Post-ABC News poll recently showed there is an increase in support from the African American community for Sen. Barack Obama's bid for presidency. According to the
CNN.com article on that poll:
In recent months, ABC News-Washington Post polls showed Sen. Hillary Clinton running 40 points higher than Sen. Barack Obama among blacks voters asked to name their preference in the Democratic primary.
But in Wednesday editions, the Washington Post reported a poll that has Obama leading Clinton by 11 points among black voters -- 44 percent to 33 percent.
But does this mean Obama has got the black vote? Well not necessarily as the poll results would have you think. It just means there are more Blacks than before who are in favor of Obama as president but Hillary Clinton still got more votes than Barack Obama from the African American community. She and her husband, Bill Clinton, have strong roots in the Black community.
In fact, Obama might not be the First Black President if he won in 2008. It was Bill Clinton who was honored as the nation's "first black president" at the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Annual Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C. in 2001. Obviously Bill was "black enough" for Blacks. (For more of past "black" presidents, read this
very interesting article at DiversityInc.com)
As the CNN.com article further explained:
Blacks, in part, may be slow to warm to the candidacy of Obama because, a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll suggests, they are less likely than whites to believe that America is ready for a black president.
The poll, conducted December 5-7, 2006, found that 65 percent of whites thought America was ready, compared with 54 percent of blacks. The poll's margin of error was plus-or-minus 5 percentage points.
Political and Personal RecordsReading through Obama's political record, one can see an impressive trail of achievements he's made through US legislature.
In 1996, Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate from the state's 13th District in the south-side Chicago neighborhood of Hyde Park. In January 2003, when Democrats regained control of the chamber, he was named chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. While in the Senate, he authored a law requiring police to videotape interrogations for crimes punishable by the death penalty [Wikipedia].
But perhaps the most telling proof of his capacity to become a leader of this country came from a February 2007 article in the Washington Post that noted his ability to work effectively with both Democrats and Republicans, and to build bipartisan coalitions in the Illinois Senate.
There are many issues that Barack Obama has either opposed or supported and these are neatly outlined at the
Vote Smart Organization's site. However, our main concern would be in Labor and in this Obama has shown tremendous interest and active participation. Most of his 100% votes were for unions and labor organizations.
Despite his high profile clean cut image, Obama isn't without his shortcomings. In his memoir Dreams from My Father, he detailed his struggles as a young adult to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage. He used alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine during his teenage years, Obama wrote, to "push questions of who I was out of my mind."
According to his biography at Wikipedia, after high school, Obama studied for two years at Occidental College and then transferred to Columbia University, where he majored in political science with a specialization in international relations. After receiving his B.A. degree in 1983, Obama worked for one year at Business International Corporation. In 1985, he moved to Chicago to direct a non-profit project assisting local churches to organize job training programs for residents of poor neighborhoods.
Obama entered Harvard Law School in 1988. In February 1990, The New York Times reported his election as the Harvard Law Review's "first black president in its 104-year history." He obtained his J.D. degree magna cum laude from Harvard in 1991. On returning to Chicago, Obama directed a voter registration drive, then worked for the civil rights law firm Miner, Barnhill & Galland, and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1993 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004.
Largest diversity job board online, career opportunity and news source resource and job search engine for the cultural diversity marketplace. Search from 250,000 active and non-replicated jobs and post your resume directly to the employer of your choice.
Labels: african american politics, barack obama, workplace diversity
Between Arab Americans and Muslim Americans
It is vital that we understand each other's culture. A lot of tragedy stem from misunderstanding and the unwillingness to open up one's mind to different perspectives. Take for instance the differences between an Arab American and a Muslim.
The most common notion of Arab Americans is that they all practice Islam. A person who comes from an Arab-speaking nation is bound to be one, right? Wrong! What makes a person a follower of Islam is neither the place of origin nor the culture they grew up in. It is the true devotion to Allah. And what is ironic is that the Muslims in America are composed mostly of African Americans and Asian Americans. A large percentage of Arab Americans are actually Christians and not Muslims. Neither do they dress up like Aladdin nor look like one.
Arab Americans are one of the most diverse ethnic group. They may have different physical attributes, but most of them have fair skin and light eyes and hair, genetic gifts from the people of Caucasia which is bordered on the south by Turkey and Iran. The darker skinned Arab Americans mainly came from the northern lands in Africa. And as more people from different races and cultures intermarry with each other, the Arab Americans have grown into a melting pot of people.
In Arab culture you give great respect to members who represent authority. It would be impolite, disrespectful to give one direct consistent eye contact. So they may look, then look away, they look, then they look away.
Another possible source of confusion is Arab names. Arab and Muslim names are spelled in a variety of ways in English because some Arabic sounds do not exist in the English alphabet. Arab names typically have four parts however most forms in America only allow space for two or three names. Due to these and other cultural factors the same name maybe spelled differently or different names may appear in different documents for the same individual.
Famous personalities such as Paula Abdul and Christa MacAuliffe, the teacher in the Challenger explosion, are Arab Americans. In fact, Arab Americans have been documented to have begun migrating to the States since the 1800s. One can therefore say Arab Americans are very much a part of the thread that makes up the colorful tapestry of American society.
The Muslims, on the other hand, are not as diverse as the Arab Americans. A great majority have African and Asian roots. Instead of turbans (which the Sikhs, an ethnic group from northern India, wore) Muslim men wear round caps and Muslim women wear head scarves. Both genders wear long clothing that covers most of their bodies. Modesty is important in Islam.
There are many beliefs and practices in Islam that non-Muslims might misinterpret as suspicious behavior. In Islam, men and women follow different sets of rules of behaving in public. However, this does not mean the women are oppressed or that the men are tyrants.
The men and women pray in different parts of the mosque in order to commune closer with Allah and focus more on their prayers. This is also in accordance with the value of modesty which is held in high esteem by Muslims.
Shoes are removed before entering the area dedicated to prayer. Avoid stepping on the prayer rug with your shoes.
It is inappropriate to interrupt someone in prayer. Typically one will walk behind or far ahead of the person in prayer or wait till he or she is finished before they pass or approach.
Respect and modesty for some Muslims may mean not touching someone of the opposite sex even in the case of a handshake. It is better to let the person of the opposite sex extend his or her hand as a signal that it is all right to shake hands.
It may also be inappropriate to enter a home if only someone of the opposite sex is present. If circumstances permit, return when a resident of the same gender is available.
An individual may wish to be interviewed apart from their families. Individuals may wish to be interviewed apart from their families to save face. Publicity and public scenes may also cause unnecessary embarrassment and humiliation.
The proper protocol when offered a drink or a snack would be to accept it. Saying "No thank you" even if said in a very polite way can be offensive.
Accept the offering even if you choose not to eat or drink it. This is considered more acceptable than rejecting their hospitality.
In cases involving police searches extra scrutiny should be the result of behavioral characteristics rather than physical appearance or attire. Indiscriminate touching of a head covering or body may be perceived as offensive. Be aware that a male staring at or touching a woman is considered offensive. If a search of a woman's scarf is warranted, police officers must explain why she needs to remove it. Public searches of the head scarf are viewed as humiliating and violates one's religious tenets. It is better to have a female officer bring her into a private room and ask her to remove the scarf herself.
Paying attention to details like these will go a long way in building rapport and cooperation with the Arab and Muslim American communities.Labels: arab americans, jobs search sites, muslim americans, workplace diversity
