I recently got dissed by a Career Coach with over one million LinkedIn followers, because she’s uncomfortable talking about hiring bias.
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When I first started to explore career coaching, I naturally did my research to find some successful people in the field. I came across a Career Influencer with over 1 million followers on LinkedIn and immediately started following her account. To me, it looked like she was definitely doing something right.
I started to follow along closely. I watched what she was doing and the steps she was taking to grow her audience. I looked up to her and the success she had in building a LinkedIn community.
The job of your dreams.
No matter your race, or where you're from.
I thought it would be great to collaborate with her on a piece of content. So, I sent her a message to see if she would meet me. I was thrilled when she replied to my message! We chatted over a video call. We agreed to create a piece that she would share with her e-mail list and LinkedIn network. I was so excited.The piece we agreed to create explored bias in recruitment. She asked her network to submit questions via a post on her LinkedIn account. The questions were great, thoughtful and real. Her audience submitted questions which reflected the challenges that marginalized groups face. There were over 200 reactions to her LinkedIn post.
They were questions like:
- How common is recruitment bias?
- Yes. What are some ways that racism can be eliminated in hiring? Is this even possible?
- Should a job seeker consider changing their name on their resume [if they sound ‘non-North American’]?
I got to typing my answers to the great questions. I referenced some of my favorite academic studies on the topic of bias from credible sources, like the Harvard business review. In the article, I wrote things like.
- “Our own individual lived experiences have big impacts on how we see things. If we ignore how those experiences impact our opinions and judgements, it can be really problematic.”
- “A candidate with a Black sounding name is two times less likely to land an interview than a candidate with a white sounding name.” Source: Harvard
- “[When it comes to changing your name on your resume], you should never so something that feels wrong to you. So, the answer is very personal.”
You can read the full unedited article about bias in hiring | → here
I sent my responses to her and what happened next shocked and hurt me.
She sent me an email which read:
“ Hi Shauna:
Thank you for taking the time to thoughtfully answer my questions. Since this is a more sensitive topic, I had a couple of recruiting colleagues in the DEI space review the advice (namely the name change suggestion). It was strongly recommended to me that I should not publish the article. While I don’t disagree with your advice, I think it should be taken on a case by case basis and may be perceived as me (a white woman) trying to white wash others.
I want you to know that I have tremendous respect for you. I just want to make sure that anything I push out from a content perspective is advice that can be shared with the masses. I hope that you will repurpose this in other ways.
I’m truly sorry and hope that you can understand.
Best,
Her name here”
My reaction to this email was completely emotional. Who in fact are the DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) colleagues who are advising you to ignore actual, real issues related to diversity and inclusion in hiring? I can’t help but imagine these DEI folks are middle-aged white men who have never had the experience of being part of a marginalized group.
So I sent her this email which read:
“Hi Her Name Here,
Thanks for your message.
I had noticed you deleted the post looking for feedback from your LinkedIn profile and figured something was up.
I can appreciate that this can become uncomfortable. However, if inclusivity is one of your core values difficult conversations like this are key.
My responses are stemmed in data and my lived experiences. I am surprised that a DEI professional would counsel against sharing this. Where the newsletter is an interview style and shares my perspective, the argument that you could be perceived as ‘white washing’ seems far fetched. Further, my points are balanced offering pros and cons of name changing on a job application.
Where your primary concerns are around the name change suggestion discussion, perhaps we could consider reworking or omitting this section and proceeding with the rest?
I am happy to work with you to provide content that amplifies the diversity conversation and feels right for your audience.
Thanks,
Shauna”
To which she replied:
“Hi Shauna:
I did not delete the post. You can find it here: She inserted the link
I truly value inclusivity but this is not the right fit for me.
Best,
Her Name Here”
I was so wrong about her that I felt totally stupid. I was duped… I felt fooled and questioned my judgement. I believe so deeply in my values and that career coaches need to talk about issues of bias in hiring. How did I not see this coming? The experience kicked my butt and put me into a state of imposter syndrome. I stopped posting on LinkedIn. I stopped reaching out to people to collaborate. I was scared to get duped again.
My big mistake: I assumed she was a leader because she had a million followers. But followers don’t make you a leader.
Now I see things differently. To me, a leader is someone who uses their network of 1 million followers to amplify under represented voices, not cancel them. A leader talks about difficult issues like the fact that it’s two times harder for a Black person to get a job interview. A leader acknowledges that getting a job is harder for newcomers, Indigenous people, women and every other minority group. A leader knows that job search is about much more than writing resumes and cover letters.
I don’t follow her account anymore. It surprises me that many BIPOC people continue to follow her.
In one email she said to me:
“I hope that you will repurpose this content in other ways.”
Her advice isn’t all bad. After all, I’m doing just that.
You can read the full unedited article about bias in hiring here
