Am I being discriminated?

Question

I graduated with a bachelor's in computer science.
I am from Mexico but have lived in the US for about 14 yrs. I understand everything in English and I speak English perfectly, the only thing is that I have an accent.

I have been having trouble finding jobs in my career area. Most don't even call me for an interview. So I have lowered my job expectations and now have been applying for technical support, call center jobs. But they have told me that my English is not very good.

I can't understand that. I went through college, have a lot of English speaking friends, not once have they told they didn't understand something I said.

I said, well maybe that's the same for everyone. Yet I hear other people from other countries who speak English much much worse than me, yet they have this high paying jobs, same experience, and even less qualifications than me.

So I reached a conclusion, either I'm being discriminated against... or those people I have heard of are lying and they

... exagerating their job's importance and pay.

Maybe it is not easy at this time to find a job. Those people that say so, maybe they are just talk.

I don't know. What do you think?

Thanks.

additional info: I got my college education in the US.

Answer 1

honestly it sounds like you're being discriminated against because you're mexican. im an african-american woman and i know the feeling. you must live in california. anyway keep applying and keep looking. For every company you applied with to be racist may be a bit far-fetches so look at your resume or how you present yourself either vebrally or dress-wise during your interviews and when you submit your applications.

Answer 2

Hmmm. This is a serious question, but tough to answer with what you have described. Rather than suggest you are or are not being discriminated against, I'd ask you some questions instead.

1. What kind of job are you seeking in computer science? Is it a job where you are programming and communicating mostly through email, or is it one where you are constantly discussing things verbally in meetings? If it is the former, how you speak (accent or not) should not matter at all. For the latter, it is more fuzzy. In the end, people need to communicate, and if they feel it is tough to do so, that could bring you down a notch. This isn't exactly discrimination.
2. I would note that you made a grammatical error in your question. It is "discriminated against", not just "discriminated". Did you know that? With that in mind, have you checked your resume for all grammatical mistakes and sentence structure errors? It might be simply a matter of a poor resume. You can have a professional check it to make sure. Rejected a poor resume is not discrimination.
3. If you have an accent, then I would think it would be tougher to get a call center job. I would guess that if people were still paying for US call centers, they want people with "perfect" English. Otherwise, they would offshore it to India like everyone else. Are you getting feedback like this?
4. Do you really know the people who have higher paying jobs have the same experience or less than you? Or is it your guess only? The "same" experience to you might be different to others.
5. Never discount people's ability to embellish the truth or brag about themselves. It could be possible. Is there a way for you to check on this?

That being all said, I think discrimination definitely exists in the US. I'm Asian-American, and I've seen it. But it is very hard to prove it. And if you get a defeatist attitude about it, you won't help yourself.

Answer 3

Jobs are hard to get in computer science now. I had 11 years experience in software support but now nothing for the last 7 years and I am an American. Unless you can get some experience landing a job will be hard. Being foreign born might make it harder. My friend landed a job at Microsoft when she was from the Ukraine you might try them they are world wide and have all kinds of people.

Answer 4

Possibly. But it's also quite possible there are other factors involved. Perhaps your technical expertise isn't quite as good as you think it is. Perhaps employers don't consider your Mexican training adequate (I know that's the case for foreign-trained doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc.) Maybe you're just not conducting your job search the right way. Maybe your English isn't as good as you think it is, or as good as your friends are telling you.

Good luck!

Answer 5

congrats on the accomplishments its still an uphill battle for all people of color unfortunately...but keep on keepin on! Stay encouraged and even if you have to be a little humble and lower you job rank it may only be for a short while.. God bless!

Answer 6

yes i think you have a case, and i know what you're going through, i'm a WHITE male.