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The world english dictionary provides a definition of regionalism as
loyalty to one's home region; regional patriotism
I wonder if this plays a role in jobs, real estate, careers, grants, and other business dealings. I've encountered real estate people who have confessed that they "charged differently" people who come from NY or CA because they have "all that money" so they make sure they pay fee's for real estate that they necessarily don't have to pay just because.
Although the job market is tight everywhere, I constantly see people in positions who lack the education, experience, and/or credentials for the position but they are GA natives. I asked a native what's up with the jobs here? He commented that "we got to look out for our own people because yall come down here and take all the jobs." I have also seen people obtain positions without a degree for a position that clearly states they need a degree - they were told to just keep quiet about where they attended so no one would notice. I interviewed for a position where an intelligence test was required as part of the position. I was 1 of 3 people who received the job. I and another employee who had to take the i.q. test were from another state. Later it was revealed the person who attended a local GA college was never administered the test prior to being offered the position.
I've also heard of people getting jobs for which they have no qualifications. Why do I care? Because if someone moves to a state planning to utilize their education, experience, resources, pleasant personality, competence, and job skills only to find out that they will not be hired NO MATTER WHAT due to being discriminated against then people should know that before moving to that state.
While having a casual conversation with a gentleman, born and raised in Atlanta, he started addressing all these "yall think we slow, yall think you’re smarter" and I'm like whoa. I didn't think one way or another about people when I moved here as I've always made friends, had relationships, and created my own job opportunities so why should anything be different here.
This may be isolated instances of people practicing this behavior but I wondered if it is a prevalent practice or if anyone else has experienced this. If this is the case then why "sell Atlanta" as a place of prosperity and growth while the goal is to prevent "others" from prospering.
My experiences are real and I put comments in quote for a reason. Is this true of Atlanta? Has anyone else had this experience? Is there a way to get a fair opportunity for employment or a way to find a way into the clique? I have some friends who are thinking of moving here and I tell them to transfer their jobs here.
The world english dictionary provides a definition of regionalism as
loyalty to one's home region; regional patriotism
I wonder if this plays a role in jobs, real estate, careers, grants, and other business dealings. I've encountered real estate people who have confessed that they "charged differently" people who come from NY or CA because they have "all that money" so they make sure they pay fee's for real estate that they necessarily don't have to pay just because.
Although the job market is tight everywhere, I constantly see people in positions who lack the education, experience, and/or credentials for the position but they are GA natives. I asked a native what's up with the jobs here? He commented that "we got to look out for our own people because yall come down here and take all the jobs." I have also seen people obtain positions without a degree for a position that clearly states they need a degree - they were told to just keep quiet about where they attended so no one would notice. I interviewed for a position where an intelligence test was required as part of the position. I was 1 of 3 people who received the job. I and another employee who had to take the i.q. test were from another state. Later it was revealed the person who attended a local GA college was never administered the test prior to being offered the position.
I've also heard of people getting jobs for which they have no qualifications. Why do I care? Because if someone moves to a state planning to utilize their education, experience, resources, pleasant personality, competence, and job skills only to find out that they will not be hired NO MATTER WHAT due to being discriminated against then people should know that before moving to that state.
While having a casual conversation with a gentleman, born and raised in Atlanta, he started addressing all these "yall think we slow, yall think you’re smarter" and I'm like whoa. I didn't think one way or another about people when I moved here as I've always made friends, had relationships, and created my own job opportunities so why should anything be different here.
This may be isolated instances of people practicing this behavior but I wondered if it is a prevalent practice or if anyone else has experienced this. If this is the case then why "sell Atlanta" as a place of prosperity and growth while the goal is to prevent "others" from prospering.
My experiences are real and I put comments in quote for a reason. Is this true of Atlanta? Has anyone else had this experience? Is there a way to get a fair opportunity for employment or a way to find a way into the clique? I have some friends who are thinking of moving here and I tell them to transfer their jobs here.
Um, I'm not trying to be patronizing, but I find it hard to believe this happened in Atlanta. We live in a metropolitan area of nearly 6 million people, and probably about 75% of those people came from somewhere other than Atlanta. I'm sure there are instances of this happening, none that I have ever seen, but I'm also sure it is far and few between. Also, I am from Georgia. This is a corporate white collar town. Successful corporations don't operate like that.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
8,486 posts, read 15,002,372 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ericsonga
Um, I'm not trying to be patronizing, but I find it hard to believe this happened in Atlanta. We live in a metropolitan area of nearly 6 million people, and probably about 75% of those people came from somewhere other than Atlanta. I'm sure there are instances of this happening, none that I have ever seen, but I'm also sure it is far and few between. Also, I am from Georgia. This is a corporate white collar town. Successful corporations don't operate like that.
I agree. Maybe far out in Metro Atlanta like down in Carrollton or some where that doesn't have a lot of transplants, but in the City and the immediate burbs transplants make up a large portion, if not half of the residents.
Hell, even on my team at work consisting of 10 people, I am the only native (and both of my parents are transplants from New York). The rest of them are New Yorkers, Texans, Midwesterners, Brits, Indians, Korean.
Last edited by waronxmas; 11-16-2010 at 03:03 PM..
The world english dictionary provides a definition of regionalism as
loyalty to one's home region; regional patriotism
I wonder if this plays a role in jobs, real estate, careers, grants, and other business dealings. I've encountered real estate people who have confessed that they "charged differently" people who come from NY or CA because they have "all that money" so they make sure they pay fee's for real estate that they necessarily don't have to pay just because.
Although the job market is tight everywhere, I constantly see people in positions who lack the education, experience, and/or credentials for the position but they are GA natives. I asked a native what's up with the jobs here? He commented that "we got to look out for our own people because yall come down here and take all the jobs." I have also seen people obtain positions without a degree for a position that clearly states they need a degree - they were told to just keep quiet about where they attended so no one would notice. I interviewed for a position where an intelligence test was required as part of the position. I was 1 of 3 people who received the job. I and another employee who had to take the i.q. test were from another state. Later it was revealed the person who attended a local GA college was never administered the test prior to being offered the position.
I've also heard of people getting jobs for which they have no qualifications. Why do I care? Because if someone moves to a state planning to utilize their education, experience, resources, pleasant personality, competence, and job skills only to find out that they will not be hired NO MATTER WHAT due to being discriminated against then people should know that before moving to that state.
While having a casual conversation with a gentleman, born and raised in Atlanta, he started addressing all these "yall think we slow, yall think you’re smarter" and I'm like whoa. I didn't think one way or another about people when I moved here as I've always made friends, had relationships, and created my own job opportunities so why should anything be different here.
This may be isolated instances of people practicing this behavior but I wondered if it is a prevalent practice or if anyone else has experienced this. If this is the case then why "sell Atlanta" as a place of prosperity and growth while the goal is to prevent "others" from prospering.
My experiences are real and I put comments in quote for a reason. Is this true of Atlanta? Has anyone else had this experience? Is there a way to get a fair opportunity for employment or a way to find a way into the clique? I have some friends who are thinking of moving here and I tell them to transfer their jobs here.
Wow... umm.. I actually have to say I'm -starting- to be a little bit insulted by this. The only way to reach these conclusions are to ignore some really big facts or pay attention to a few key, rare situations/people.
I am traditional Atlantan and I am 28 years old. Several of my family-lines go back from here long enough that we lose track of the genealogy. A few moved from the foot hill towns in North Georgia (Jasper, Dahlongega, Dawsonville), a few we originally from Dekalb (before Atlanta, Decatur was actually the older town in the area), a few were descendants of Irish Immigrants in Savannah that moved to Atlanta for more opportunity, one of my family lines actually were original settlers in Virginia in the early 1600s that moved to GA in the early 1800s, and I even have a shred of gulf coast french (Mobile/New Orleans) and Cherokee Indian in my blood. These are some of the major immigrant populations that originally moved into the area.
However, growing up in my neighborhood and throughout school I was often a bit of a rarity. Most everyone around me was from somewhere else. Out of those who were born here their families had only been here for a generation or two.
I graduated with a graduate degree shortly before the recession started and have had trouble finding the work I initially wanted. (I have been working other types of work I consider temporary, but not bad work)
More importantly though when I look at many of the major companies and the managers who hire people are more like the population at large. There just aren't many of us who are truly native to the area to cause as big of a problem as your are mentioning (including those in hiring positions).
Some companies have been founded here and grown here (ie Coca-Cola), but there are also many many others that moved here, because the cost of operating elsewhere was getting to be too expensive (ie Chicago, NYC). When they moved here they brought their management and company policies with them.
Most of the real estate agents aren't native in the sense I see them as native. If they are charging more... they are doing it, because someone sees housing here being much much cheaper here than they are use to. However, I doubt this a little bit, because this would be a major ethics violation and if caught they would lose their ability to work as a real estate agent.
The other thing that also kind of concerns me is when people hire people they often have many factors to consider. You mentioned a few of them, but not others. The commons are experience, education, iq testing, manners, and overall demeanor. But, you also need to consider someone who is hiring is watching budgets, salary levels, diversity of thought, relocation costs, potential longevity (time commitment/trust), etc... that influence many of their decisions.
So within any company there are people that will get hired lacking in one category or another, but that is often for a whole slew of reasons. There are only so many absolutely perfect employees for a a particular job that will work for a specific price. My fear is you saw a few examples of this and immediately assumed it was a regionalism thing or talked to someone else who assumed it was that.
That aside... I'm getting sick of defending my culture from the whole "y'all think we slow" bit.
You are showing your stereotypes towards locals with that statement. Most all of us do not talk like that. If you actually managed to find someone who used those exact words in that way and weren't having fun with you, joking, or trying to lighten the conversation, then you found/looked for that 1 in 10,000 native to talk to who is like that. We do proudly use the word "y'all," but that is apart of our regional heritage/dialect and has no reflection on our education, abilities, or proper use of grammar. It does, however, often bring out regional prejudices from others and combined with statements like "y'all think we slow."
But after your post... and then re-reading this specific statement:
"I constantly see people in positions who lack the education, experience, and/or credentials for the position but they are GA natives."
I have to wonder three things:1) Is this because you are not in a position to see the big pictures as to why they were hired? 2) Are you only thinking this way, because you don't agree with their views, which could be legitimate and needed for intellectual diversity? 3) Perhaps they really do have the education and credentials for the position, but your internal prejudices/stereotypes of locals prevents you from seeing them.
I don't know you well enough to really accuse you of any of these, but the thoughts do cross my mind. There is certainly no shortage of workers here from out of state, hiring managers from out of state, and companies here from out of state to really create the argument "....they will not be hired NO MATTER WHAT due to being discriminated against then people should know that before moving to that state" is a common problem.
Outside that... as a native... I feel like we have welcomed most people here with open arms and today our cultural make up/diversity shows that.
I wouldn't be surprised that some companies in this area practice regional discrimination. I doubt any large company would but small mom-and-pop operations are more likely to. A lot of people are still afraid to admit that parts of the south are still insular and backwards. Trust me, I know. I grew up in a place like that.
However, I think you may be giving regionalism too much credit for an overall crappy job environment and an employer's market. Job hunting has always sucked in this city. Intense competition, location issues, two-faced people who don't return your calls after feeding you lines of crap in an interview. I've had a higher call back percentage applying to out of area jobs. It's all here and it's now worse due to the current state of the economy.
It's frustrating and it's not your fault. It can definitely seem that hiring practices are not on the level when you have little luck finding a job. It's not always a fair process and people aren't always judged completely on their merits. This happens everywhere though.
As far as your 'degree required" example; I've learned the hard way that experience and no degree trumps a degree with no experience 9 times out of 10.
And as far as real estate goes; do you not think there are unscrupulous brokers in NYC who take advantage of ignorant outsiders looking for an apartment?
Where is it you applied that requires an iq test? This is a serious question. I do pretty well on IQ tests.
Anyway, I understand your frustrations. The job market isn't fair and it's easy to fall into the habit of finding faults in the process that may or may not be there. Still though, it's best not to let it get to you and keep plugging away until you get lucky.
Not to worry. They will hire you too with all that pedigree and credential just so long as you go as cheap as the rest. Who wouldn't? As far as a great melting pot of humanity? Maybe not so much.
First, there are not anything NEAR 6 million in the metro. That would put us around the 5th largest in the country. There are only 9.2 million in the whole state. If you took all 21 surrounding counties...
North to Gordon, West to Paulding, East to Walton and South to Spalding....
I'd say there are about 4.2 million in that and believe it or not, some people make that commute every single day....both ways....That, my friend, is the metro in it's most generous entirety......4.2 million....not 6....why people toss that stat out is beyond me.....interestingly enough though, 1.4 of them live in either Cobb or Gwinnett.....
Anyway, I can't imagine we have the mental bandwidth to collectively discriminate against anyone outside. We're just not that organized. We, like America, just discriminate against anyone we don't know or has not been directly recommended. Same with meeting folks at a social level. If you get a nod, it's easy...if not???
If you have a very Northern accent (Read: New York or Boston) or insist on how things are in you-pick-the-city back home, it probably won't endear you too much. But, then again, where would it?
Believe me, you have bigger problems.
And another note on that pedigree and intellectual monopoly you have going on. To Georgia's credit, they do have quite a few from Georgia Tech, a very, very fine engineering school with a heck of a reputation in nuclear....I believe one of the top 10 engineering schools in the country....Yellow Jackets, please feel free to weigh in. Degrees are like ********, everyone's got one and it's not going to open that many doors for you.
Furtheromore, when you couple the beauts that come from UGA, and other nefarious and fun institutions nearby, you just can't beat the crowd on their curb appeal. A finer group of good looking credit-card-eating-bimbos come out of these fine institutions faster than AMEX could ever hope or want for. Is this a great country or what?
I'd say pound for pound, we have as many "enhanced" beauties as the American Council on Plastic Surgery will allow and believe me, they are fine with you if you can pay the tab. And apparently, size DOES matter and it seems that the twins are as good as any degree you are going to lay down......
Show me a double DD and I'll show you I've got 10 minutes to spare. But hey, I'm as deep as a saucer, what can I say.....
Discriminate against you from being outside? Maybe. But it probably helps if you follow the tact: when in rome??? Otherwise, you might find these soon-to-be housewives taking that pedigree and sticking it where the sun doesn't shine. Trust me on this, I do a lot of cold calling and these gals aren't afraid of much.
The only difference between these pit bulls at the door and the ones in South Florida is the leather mini-skirt. Ole.
So, bring yourself on down and don't forget to bring your MasterCard and Visa. Because unlike most towns, these folks DO take American Express. All the way to your limit.
And WHATEVER you do, SMILE. Be courteous. Open doors for strangers. Say hello to strangers. Even if it kills you. If not for you, then fake it like the rest of the folks down here.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
8,486 posts, read 15,002,372 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Caleb Longstreet
Not to worry. They will hire you too with all that pedigree and credential just so long as you go as cheap as the rest. Who wouldn't? As far as a great melting pot of humanity? Maybe not so much.
First, there are not anything NEAR 6 million in the metro. That would put us around the 5th largest in the country. There are only 9.2 million in the whole state. If you took all 21 surrounding counties...
North to Gordon, West to Paulding, East to Walton and South to Spalding....
I'd say there are about 4.2 million in that and believe it or not, some people make that commute every single day....both ways....That, my friend, is the metro in it's most generous entirety......4.2 million....not 6....why people toss that stat out is beyond me.....interestingly enough though, 1.4 of them live in either Cobb or Gwinnett.....
The population for Metro Atlanta as of July 1st, 2009 is 5,747,587. Keep in mind that the number is just an estimate and that we have more than likely surpassed that by around several hundred thousand now. Won't know for sure until a few weeks from now after the official count is in, but it's a sure bet we're already above 6 million and essentially already there. Another 200,000 people in the Metro is a drop in the bucket that wouldn't be noticed.
The population for Metro Atlanta as of July 1st, 2009 is 5,747,587. Keep in mind that the number is just an estimate and that we have more than likely surpassed that by around several hundred thousand now. Won't know for sure until a few weeks from now after the official count is in, but it's a sure bet we're already above 6 million and essentially already there. Another 200,000 people in the Metro is a drop in the bucket that wouldn't be noticed.
Looks like we are both a bit wrong. Take a look, same tables you indicated...comes to about 5,316,530....and that's being a bit generous to add some of the counties mentioned but, people do make commutes from there....Christ, I included Jackson and Barrow so that should be more than enough to count for anyone I may have missed.....I think Gainesville might be a more relative line?
Anyway, I think that's about 20 counties....close enough? Some of these have 706 area codes and if you dropped those, you would be closer to 5,000,000 flat....I think a more relative number would be those that reside in the 770, 678, 404 NPA's/Area Codes??? Including the likes of Jackson, Barrow, Dawson and Bartow, and perhaps Spalding does stretch it a bit....to be sure, there are more coming and as you indicated, have already arrived.
Regardless, that's quite a bit of sprawl....some interesting facts.....Houston, the 5th largest metro, has 5.7 million (2008) covering 10,062 square miles with 2 airports......Atlanta's Metropolitan area contains 5.3 million in an area of 8,376 square miles putting us in at about the 9th largest metro....the stats are from Wikipedia and they show up to 28 counties and over 5.4 million....probably depends on where you draw the line and I don't count some of the counties they include like Carrol and what have you....if you do that, why not throw in Macon, Columbus, and mookie's cabin somewhere up in Union County?
The more interesting stat comparing these two areas is that we are served by 1 airport (agggghhhhhhh!) in a land mass roughly the size of Massachusetts (wikipedia here...not sure how accurate that is) and roughly 83% of the same square miles as that of Houston....said another way, Houston has 566.5 people per square mile and Atlanta??? 644.7.....
Soooooooo, believe it or not, we are more crowded than Houston...probably not a real hard sell to anyone reading this diatribe....
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. It's all here and it's now worse due to the current state of the economy.
.
You are thinking too much
