The Job Market in Houston, TX (Howe, China: sales, attorney, universities)

[PDXNative2Houston]

Career progression might be the best in the USA in Houston. I moved here from Portland in 2010 and have advanced my base salary from $55k when I first moved to well in to the 6 figures. It's a great place to advance fast.

[CindyDavis]

Originally Posted by Str8Talk

I was thinking of relocating to Houston to explore the job market there. As a more demographically and ethnically diverse US city than most, I am hoping that employers are more culturally exposed and have a more advanced worldview and are hopefully, less discriminatory toward racial and ethnic background. I am particularly interested in general views on this issue as it pertains to the Houston area, as I have encountered this attitude a lot where I currently live in SW Virginia.

As a pertinent example, most recently, I attended an interview in the area. I had submitted my resume weeks prior and had undergone the phone screening interview. Only to be told by the CEO, apparently only after seeing me physically, that he doubted I would have enough projects to be mentally and professionally challenged, and raised concerns that I would become "bored" quickly in his company, based on the educational and professional achievements on my resume. I thought this was a very "interesting" way to discriminate, however, I wondered why he had not figured that out when he received my resume several weeks prior, but had to see me first, to come to his conclusion.

Hence, I was hoping to get some good advice/insight from this forum regarding institutional racism and discrimination in the Houston job market, if it does exists.

Interesting that when you didn't get the offer you revert to discrimination as the excuse?

[Htown2013]

Originally Posted by PDXNative2Houston

Career progression might be the best in the USA in Houston. I moved here from Portland in 2010 and have advanced my base salary from $55k when I first moved to well in to the 6 figures. It's a great place to advance fast.

@PDX, I know career progression can be fast in Houston, but that is mind boggling fast. What do you do and how did you do it so quickly?

[Str8Talk]

CindyDavis, let's be objective and practical here, institutional racism does exist in the US, and that is a fact! However, to the chagrin of those who practice it, it will not stop the US from becoming a diverse nation in every facet of society. Whether diversity comes from across the ocean or from the southern boarder, diversity is here to stay - gender, racial, ethnic and cultural, you name it! I am personally, particularly excited over this development! My advice to those who abhor it is to mellow down, embrace it and don't fight the inevitable. In reality, this is no longer our father's America, this is OUR America - the Hispanic, the African, the Caucassian, the Asian, the Native American, male and female alike, THIS America is all ours!

Mind you, this is not the first instance I have experienced, so I am very aware of all the subtleties of institutional discrimination. I find it very amusing that he had to see me first to figure out that, "I would be bored in his company". He had my resume for 3 weeks before I even got the first phone screen! And there was nothing I discussed different from what was already on my resume! The only variable in the new equation was me actually appearing in person.

I am a straight talker and I call things by their name, that is the only way change is possible.

[Str8Talk]

Originally Posted by Htown2013

@PDX, I know career progression can be fast in Houston, but that is mind boggling fast. What do you do and how did you do it so quickly?

@PDX, that is really amazing! Good for you! I believe it is possible, because in my last career move I was able to negotiate a 39.9% increase to my base alone, excluding allowances and bonus. This was not even a large city, so I believe all the more possible in a city like Houston.

[DejaBlue]

Originally Posted by Str8Talk

@PDX, that is really amazing! Good for you! I believe it is possible, because in my last career move I was able to negotiate a 39.9% increase to my base alone, excluding allowances and bonus. This was not even a large city, so I believe all the more possible in a city like Houston.

Just to end the curiosity, what minority are you? For you to continue to mention the "bored" part upon seeing you in person and you're accomplished resume I'm assuming you're an Asian or Middle Eastern minority.
Just because stereotypically those two are always considered smarter than than all of us. You get the you see a person who looks some kind of Indian (the country) or Middle Eastern decent person and some go "I'll bet they're a doctor"

[Str8Talk]

Originally Posted by DejaBlue

Just to end the curiosity, what minority are you? For you to continue to mention the "bored" part upon seeing you in person and you're accomplished resume I'm assuming you're an Asian or Middle Eastern minority.
Just because stereotypically those two are always considered smarter than than all of us. You get the you see a person who looks some kind of Indian (the country) or Middle Eastern decent person and some go "I'll bet they're a doctor"

I will politely pass on any racial disclosure, simply because it really is not pertinent, we are all members of one race - the human race. If we could fast forward by a mere 7-10 years right now, we would see a very different professional America - one more highly integrated, not just in big cities. Coincidentally, we are tending toward that future by reason of natural social dynamics.

My goal on this forum is to get as much objective information on the job market in Houston - ease of penetration for the professional. I expect and believe Houston is a city that is "immune" to some of the behaviors, in the professional arena, that I have experienced in small town America, simply because of the inevitable exposure of Houston employers to a wide racial and cultural spectrum. I am excited about this impending change in my career pursuits.

[CindyDavis]

Originally Posted by Str8Talk

CindyDavis, let's be objective and practical here, institutional racism does exist in the US, and that is a fact! However, to the chagrin of those who practice it, it will not stop the US from becoming a diverse nation in every facet of society. Whether diversity comes from across the ocean or from the southern boarder, diversity is here to stay - gender, racial, ethnic and cultural, you name it! I am personally, particularly excited over this development! My advice to those who abhor it is to mellow down, embrace it and don't fight the inevitable. In reality, this is no longer our father's America, this is OUR America - the Hispanic, the African, the Caucassian, the Asian, the Native American, male and female alike, THIS America is all ours!

Mind you, this is not the first instance I have experienced, so I am very aware of all the subtleties of institutional discrimination. I find it very amusing that he had to see me first to figure out that, "I would be bored in his company". He had my resume for 3 weeks before I even got the first phone screen! And there was nothing I discussed different from what was already on my resume! The only variable in the new equation was me actually appearing in person.

I am a straight talker and I call things by their name, that is the only way change is possible.

Yes, let's be objective and practical. I've hired dozens of people of the years and not one has been solely based on a resume, which is nothing more than the minimal price of entry for an interview. I've seen a few people that seem to think as you do, which is that you ought to be hired solely based on your experience and education. There is a lot more to identifying the best candidate to fill a job than that.

Maybe by telling you that you were over qualified the employer was letting you down easy. The impression that you make in person needs to confirm the background that you portrayed on your resume. Perhaps that wasn't the case. Glad you found it amusing.

[Str8Talk]

Originally Posted by CindyDavis

Yes, let's be objective and practical. I've hired dozens of people of the years and not one has been solely based on a resume, which is nothing more than the minimal price of entry for an interview. I've seen a few people that seem to think as you do, which is that you ought to be hired solely based on your experience and education. There is a lot more to identifying the best candidate to fill a job than that.

Maybe by telling you that you were over qualified the employer was letting you down easy. The impression that you make in person needs to confirm the background that you portrayed on your resume. Perhaps that wasn't the case. Glad you found it amusing.

Interesting comment, albeit reflective of an all too familiar mentality! Well, congratulations on having hired dozens of people! I really think a lot of us in this forum have a lot to talk about too, however, we choose to abide by a level of professional maturity and not intimate or flaunt "accomplishments" or "achievements" here.

Unfortunately, the direction you seem to be taking this discussion is way off base, and I choose not to condescend to that level. But I will say this: There are two types of people in this nation; those who think progressively and confront and solve problems - the problem solvers, and those who refuse to see reality and address those problems, with hopes of keeping this nation in a dysfunctional past - the problem makers.

I encourage you to exercise your prerogative to no longer respond to these posts, if the contents of your posts are not productive for this forum, and as a reminder, the thesis here is, "The Job Market in Houston"

[PDXNative2Houston]

Originally Posted by Htown2013

@PDX, I know career progression can be fast in Houston, but that is mind boggling fast. What do you do and how did you do it so quickly?

I'm a CPA who worked in the Big 4 (Public Accounting) and moved to industry at the right place at the right time. It was a bit of luck, but my colleagues who made the same move often times at least doubled their base and receive quite big bonuses year and year out (40-60% of base).

Accounting professionals are in high demand, and in Houston it is only amplified. My buddies that are in residency now in Med School won't even catch up to my current earnings until they're about 34-36 if they take on a very advanced specialty. It's strange that a number cruncher with a 4 year degree that can put together financials for a Company has more earnings potential than someone who cuts people open and saves lives, but that's the society we live in.