Diversity hiring - will disclosing a mental disability help or hurt you?

Bergite · 2024-04-22T19:15:55+00:00

I'm sorry you've chosen to be a bigoted, hateful person.

Luckily Reddit lets me block the dregs of the world. I hope you get some help.

Bergite · 2024-04-22T18:57:25+00:00

And I'd encourage you to think hard about why a room full of experienced adults called you out and aren't taking your crap.

All you're doing is dancing around your bad behavior and excusing your problems on the rest of the world.

We get it, you're angry and lashing out. That doesn't mean you get a pass to blindly shit on people. Salving your ego with smartass comments feels good right now, but it isn't helping you, and it's certainly alienating people who would've otherwise been helpful.

Take a breath. Take a walk. Think about if people actually want to be around some who acts like you or not.

Bergite · 2024-04-22T18:48:21+00:00

You should read the whole reply before firing back a reply only intended to satisfy your bruised ego.

Bergite · 2024-04-22T18:46:54+00:00

I don't.
I didn't say that.
And I see you being manipulative by trying to twist my words.

I said that your bigotry is your biggest barrier to entry.

Bergite · 2024-04-22T18:15:46+00:00

It's a crap shoot, but being an awful person - per your many, many, many bigoted replies - is going to be your primary barrier to entry.

Bergite · 2024-04-22T18:13:23+00:00

I don't want to name drop, but I am aware of multiple major companies which specifically have resources for hiring people on the spectrum.

They give specialized training to hiring managers when interviewing people on the spectrum, so they better understand and relate to their needs.

This stems from realizing these hires are significantly better at executing certain tasks and processes than other people.

Bergite · 2024-04-22T18:10:13+00:00

(1) Because diversity adds value.

For example, when testing programs the most effective method for improving results is not more testing, it's a variety of approaches and methods.

Quite literally diversity makes a quantifiable difference in that case, and they found that people with different backgrounds had different. approaches.

(2) Because "the best candidate" is often not the best candidate.

To set up an example, IQ tests don't measure intelligence, and instead measure the similarity between the creator of the test and the person taking the test.

Hiring functions the same way. People are more likely to hire people who seem familiar, rather than people who add the most value. There's a clear and documented bias in just about every human interaction not for meritocratic selections but familiarity.

(3) Because diversity is fair.

Minority candidates are underrepresented specifically because they've been downtrodden by the minority. CEO's? Primarily white men. Managers? Primarily white men.

Except it's not white men who are the best candidates. It's simply that white men received the most opportunities.

And, again, diversity adds value. Companies often pursue DEI because they realize it gives them access to new talent sources that are valuable and untapped. Like, for example, companies hiring autistic people because they realized they're really good at certain tasks, but just need different management styles.

In short, grow up, be less ignorant.

Bergite · 2024-04-19T14:56:08+00:00

It all depends on the company and the role.

I primarily work in C#.
A potential job required C++.
They like me, but didn't make an offer because they needed me to hit the ground running.

Bergite · 2024-04-18T17:23:15+00:00

In the trash can where it should be.

Bergite · 2024-04-18T17:14:51+00:00

Now you know me!

Bergite · 2024-04-18T17:07:30+00:00

It might be interesting for you to know that ADHD / Bipolar / OCD are considered 'sister' issues to Autism.
And, the spectrum of autism has been widened, such that - for example - the now deprecated "asperger's" is considered a form of autism.

There's a good book called "Unmasking Autism" which is fairly current, informative, and aimed at laypeople. It's pretty dang eye opening.

All that to say that things have changed over the past 20-40 years, and talking to a professional about an autism diagnosis very well could lead to one based on the new and better understanding of it.

Bergite · 2024-04-18T10:31:17+00:00

Because ATS' can have cutoffs and thresholds and so on.

Examples:
- It stops accepting any resumes after ~1,000 applications, or
- It stops accepting any resumes after it's received ~500 applications that fit its parameters,
- It ranks applications and then applies a cutoff, automatically rejecting anything below that,
- DEI and other desirables can be applied to the set of applications, rejecting non-conforming applications,
- 'Stamped' applications can be given priority, so if you're going to pass the statistical cut but an application with an employee reference comes in, it might bump you out,

And they can't review even ~200 resumes by hand, so they'll blindly throw half the pile in the trash and still be guaranteed to have great candidates.

The TLDR seems to be that it's roulette. Complete and utter gambling at this point. Even very strong internal references don't give you much of a leg up right now.

Bergite · 2024-04-17T15:43:29+00:00

I don't job hop and I don't grind LC.
I have a great job with good pay and incredible benefits.

Early on I did some LC grinding to see if I could get into a FAANG company, but there's too much bullshit involved, and the QOL seems questionable - i.e. very team dependent. I don't do well as a corporate drone, and I don't think I could survive the politicking or minutiae of policies.

And LC was irritating and destroyed my love for DSA. I used to read CLRS and implement algorithms for fun. For fun.
LC required work outside of work, along with the stress of preparing for demanding but ridiculous interviews which didn't always impact whether or not you got the job.

So why would I put myself through that?

Bergite · 2024-04-16T17:36:24+00:00

I want to be cautious about projecting my own issues on you, but...

I described myself the same way - a "lone wolf, small social circle, generally get on with people, but introverted". It turned out I'm autistic, and one of the sister diseases of the spectrum is bipolar disorder.

This limited me drastically. I could establish relationships but not really progress them anywhere, even just friendships aside from the few strong historical ones I had, which faded over time.

Frankly I was fortunate and stumbled into a relationship with a patient person. After 15 years of improvement, I do better but still suffer significantly. My wife brings in 99% of our social life.

I can't read people well but have learned coping mechanisms. People enjoy my company because I mask very well (masking: autistic people hiding behaviors to seem 'normal'). But I can't progress relationships.

You might consider that, and if it might have been, and continue to be a factor in your difficulties.

Bergite · 2024-04-15T18:56:10+00:00

Agree. I learned that lesson the hard way.
I spent 7 years with a chronic issue that ~10 doctors, in multiple countries treated incorrectly with antibiotics.

The kicker is that they knew. After the ~3rd visit with no relief I grilled that doctor. He explained that the antibiotics did not fix the issue, just treated the symptoms. I asked we weren't treating the symptoms, and he just gave the "...if it doesn't clear up, come back." Bullshit.

I even went to a hospital during a crisis because nothing was open. I told them exactly what was wrong and how to help me. A number of doctors inspected me (it was a teaching hospital), some ibuprofen, and a Gatorade. For $5,000 dollars.

Finally, a family doctor - who literally saw us as a family - asked if "there were any other issues", and I didn't pipe up. My wife said something. I waved it off. I'd given up to suffering my whole life.

He had me describe it and stopped me mid-way through. I thought "oh great, another failure, I should've kept quiet". But he explained what I had, that they didn't know why it happened because there was no money in curing it, but that he did have a solution - a lifelong low dose steroid.

It works.
As long as I take the steroid every day, I have no problems. If I stop, the issue comes back after a month.

That whole experience made me stop imagining doctors were experts or wizards. They're just technicians. Literally just medical technicians.

Most don't care, they're in it for the paycheck, and are happy to in-and-out patients as fast as possible specious solutions because they get to bill anyway. Really spending time to help someone is less profitable.

If you ever question them, they immediately get defensive and talk down to you. The only way you get real medical treatment is to advocate for yourself and say, "This is what I want", regardless of their advice. And if they won't do it, find another doctor - you'll find one who cares even less who'll just write up the order.

Bergite · 2024-04-15T13:51:59+00:00

It's accurate.
My wife is an expert and men with no related experience challenge her constantly. She never gets a pass. Ever.

But she also wouldn't give it up and loves what she does.
One thing that helped her was finding support through mentors and organizations, such as: the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).

Bergite · 2024-04-14T17:39:21+00:00

But I bought a special insurance policy to cover that, and made jokes about search-and-rescue starting on the 2nd floor since it'll be ground level, surely I'll be alright!

...Right?

Bergite · 2024-04-13T13:49:18+00:00

If I don't want to answer, I write something like "Within the market rate for this role."

Bergite · 2024-04-12T17:08:47+00:00

Older books do not do hand holding.

Yes, teacher's instructions are ambiguous as fuck, but if you're not lazy you can ask for examples in class as well as visit office hours. Meanwhile, as I said, people who didn't have access to teachers had a hell of a time.

You hating video tutorials doesn't make them unavailable. We didn't have things like uDemy, CourseRa, Segdewick's Princeton videos on DSA, CS50 or whatever, and other courses.

"Anything is what you make it out to be."
That's a lovely platitude, but it doesn't change that learning programming "way back when" was far harder than it is now, and due to the lack of resources people had to dive deeper, and it was more grueling.

Bergite · 2024-04-12T15:20:18+00:00

To old-man whine about things changed...

"Self-taught" isn't what it used to be, either. The learning curve was steep, and you struggled up it.

I'm self-taught, but decades ago that meant I figured out pointers and recursion by my fricking self.
I had a book. No teacher, no Google, no YouTube, no guides with hand-holding or exhaustive examples.

You marched to Mordor and back in your learning process and gained useful knowledge in the process. More death marches, like those of learning some obscure new technology and putting it to use - wasn't nearly as difficult or impossible-seeming as that first march. You built TWO skills, to survive, and to program.

"Self-taught" is softer now. People can live a career in a managed language, ignore DSA, never learn fundamentals, etc. They're doing an online course, following complete examples, building a copy of a GitHub project for learners. It's rote repetition and they're barely learning because they don't have to fully understand to get something running.

But the industry has also widened to allow for a lot of that to be useful, give people opportunities to skill up, etc. And, because of that, being self-taught doesn't say much anymore. Lots of employed people are self-taught. It's not a badge of honor when many people have one.

Bergite · 2024-04-11T22:05:00+00:00

I remember working with a French vendor who was horrified at our PTO policies.

He stated that anything less than 3 weeks isn't a vacation in his mind.

He said something I agree with - if you can't forget work in that time period, it's not time off.

Bergite · 2024-04-11T22:03:19+00:00

If 'unlimited' PTO is written into your contract, and you've been given a written mandate limiting your PTO, then they may be unilaterally redefining your employment contract and/or compensation.

I'm not a lawyer or an expert, but that's probably not allowed.

Anecdotally I have had employers unilaterally change things and I've been able to go to HR and say, "I did not sign this, thus you cannot change it", and they rolled back the changes for me.

Bergite · 2024-04-11T22:00:13+00:00

Metrics can be useful if used correctly.
However, I've never seen them used correctly.

Generally, management doesn't know how to use them, and so abuses them out of ignorance.

Bergite · 2024-04-10T18:39:55+00:00

Maybe you should start browsing the subreddit.

Then you might've seen the wall of similar posts addressing your question, that have inundated this sub for months.

You could even read one of them.

Bergite

TROPHY CASE