The Only Black Guy in the Office
Are These Recruiters Reaching Out Because I’m Good, or a Diversity Fix?
Pandemic headhunting is boosting my ego at the same pace as it’s boosting my doubts
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
Summer 2020 was a busy time for my inbox. Wanda was the fourth one to slip into my LinkedIn DMs in the same month. Much like Gene, Angela, and the other recruiters before her, the message followed a familiar format: “Reaching out about an opportunity” in the subject line, then some variation of “we think you’d be a great fit,” and “let us know if you’d like to chat” in the body. This isn’t even counting the other three intro emails that came straight to my personal.
Now, I’d be lying if I said Nicki and Bey’s “Feeling Myself” wasn’t playing in my head on repeat at first. It’s pretty lit to be sought out for a job instead of being one of 500 applicants throwing resumés into a black hole — and multiple times at that. The kid was feeling like a hot commodity, but I wasn’t the only one. There were a lot more of my Black and POC peers flaunting shiny new job titles on my feed than usual, which is obviously amazing, but I began having mixed feelings…
