OnTheRocks Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Is it illegal to state on your resume that you are a minority if you are in fact not? Here is why I ask. I was having lunch with some friends, one of which is a HR staff worker for a large local co. He said he was going through resumes and came across one which the guy stated under "Personal Information" Native American. My buddy was saying after he talked with the Dept. Mgr who was hiring that he liked the idea of having some diversity in his Dept to show his management that he is making strides to meet certain company wide goals...such as increased minority hiring. So the Indian dude got the job. So my question is, how would one know if this was true or not? Does the applicant have to provide some sort of proof that he is a minority if his or her appearance does not provide evidence of this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDS Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Is it illegal to state on your resume that you are a minority if you are in fact not? Here is why I ask. I was having lunch with some friends, one of which is a HR staff worker for a large local co. He said he was going through resumes and came across one which the guy stated under "Personal Information" Native American. My buddy was saying after he talked with the Dept. Mgr who was hiring that he liked the idea of having some diversity in his Dept to show his management that he is making strides to meet certain company wide goals...such as increased minority hiring. So the Indian dude got the job. So my question is, how would one know if this was true or not? Does the applicant have to provide some sort of proof that he is a minority if his or her appearance does not provide evidence of this? 385126[/snapback] I'm a native American. Born in Depew and I live in MD!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRH Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 It's not illegal to lie on your resume (which is partly why so many people do it), but it IS stupid. See, e.g., O'Leary, George. I think the situation is different if you're applying for a specific minority set-aside, like a scholarship for Hispanic students or something -- but in those cases I would think you'd have to provide some evidence of your status. If someone put a minority status on his or her resume, and I interviewed him/her and noted that he/she was as white as the driven snow, I'd certainly at least take that into account. Most people don't get hired without at least one personal interview. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drnykterstein Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 My brothers pheonce(fionce..grrr... *woman*).... she was born in Africa, but she's white. Her school has an African-american scholarship they give out every year, so without looking at her or knowing her skin color, they gave it to her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB27 Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Affirmative action = discrimination Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duey Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 My brothers pheonce(fionce..grrr... *woman*).... she was born in Africa, but she's white. Her school has an African-american scholarship they give out every year, so without looking at her or knowing her skin color, they gave it to her. 385134[/snapback] She's white and was born in Africa?!? What's the chance of that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 ALWAYS put the pen mark in the box called "Other". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crap Throwing Monkey Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Is it illegal to state on your resume that you are a minority if you are in fact not? Here is why I ask. I was having lunch with some friends, one of which is a HR staff worker for a large local co. He said he was going through resumes and came across one which the guy stated under "Personal Information" Native American. My buddy was saying after he talked with the Dept. Mgr who was hiring that he liked the idea of having some diversity in his Dept to show his management that he is making strides to meet certain company wide goals...such as increased minority hiring. So the Indian dude got the job. So my question is, how would one know if this was true or not? Does the applicant have to provide some sort of proof that he is a minority if his or her appearance does not provide evidence of this? 385126[/snapback] Illegal to state? No. But it's illegal to hire on that basis, if the person you hire is white... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Avenger Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 It's illegal for an employer to ask your ethnicity, but I don't know that it's illegal to state your race on your resume. As a hiring manager, I'd be put off by anyone that stated their race on their resume - it's not supposed to matter so why is the candidate putting it on their resume if I'm not allowed to consider it? At the very least it's in bad taste and as a hiring manager I'd question the good sense and/or motivation of the applicant to begin with. In general you can be terminated from a job for lying on your resume about anything, but I doubt they'd fire you if they found out you lied about your race - it would show that race was a factor in your hiring and nobody wants to go there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet baboo Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 some summer intern in my lab said he was ineligible for native american benefits despite being half native american (father is, mother isn't) because his grandfather didn't register for the trail of tears my brother's roomate at UB is 1/4 native american and his family is apparently registered so they don't pay any taxes...i'm told his father just bought a new porsche 911 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ch19079 Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Affirmative action = discrimination 385139[/snapback] yes, but it will continue untill a better option comes around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB27 Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 yes, but it will continue untill a better option comes around. 385164[/snapback] How about hire the best candidate?????? Theres an option..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan in San Diego Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 She's white and was born in Africa?!? What's the chance of that? 385140[/snapback] Colonialism. (sp?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ch19079 Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 not illegal, but definatly a basis for being fired. whats teh basis for being classified as a minority? say 1 parent was white, and the other a minority. would that classify you as a minority? what if you were really dark skined? what if you were really light skined?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puhonix Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 The fact that you'd consider this makes me sick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UB2SF Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 I'm the head of HR for a mid-size publicly-traded company, so I'm accountable for all of our hiring. To reiterate what's been said, no, it's not illegal to lie on your resume, although it's totally boneheaded because more often than not, people eventually get caught when then do. But more importantly, people generally don't state their race on their resumes. In fact, I've NEVER seen someone do this. Sometimes people put activities and affiliations on their resumes that might imply a certain race (e.g., "National Association of Black MBAs"), but I've never seen someone with "Race: black" on their resume. And despite all the cynicism that people have about affirmative action and diversity-based hiring objectives (see above), in this day and age it's virtually impossible to find companies that hire on the basis of anything other than skill and experience qualifications. If two people are equally qualified, then perhaps race/gender will come into play as a secondary factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 If two people are equally qualified, then perhaps race/gender will come into play as a secondary factor. 385172[/snapback] Tell that to firemen or cops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ch19079 Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 How about hire the best candidate?????? Theres an option..... 385166[/snapback] sounds good, but often there is no clear cut "best person for the job". if you go through, say 30 resumes and find say 6 people that would all be good hires. how do you narrow that down to 1? after the interview and all that, you might still have to choose between a few people. at that point, getting some diversity in the work place is good. insted of hiring the guy who graduated from your college. or as Chris Rock once said: "i dont think i should get a job over some other guy who scored better on a test. but if there is a tie...... F*CK THEM. they had a 400 year head start." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ch19079 Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Tell that to firemen or cops. 385176[/snapback] what about the military? isnt there a bill or law or something now that prevents women from being stationed in front line units? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven in MD Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 As was stated, lying on your resume is cause for immediate termination. Once you get fired for that, it makes it hard to use that company as a reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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