whatever or Korean community services. And actually sometimes noticed I take out the I’ve and just put the generic [organization name] on my word ‘Korean’ résumé.” Respondents explained that these more generic or race-neutral descriptions of activities would seem or to employers. For example, an Asian college “more prestigious” “more official” student described her rationale for using a of an art center on her “generic English name” résumé, rather than the Chinese name: center’s official, I list this art class that I took in Chinatown in New York City. But it seems to me it seems less official or less substantial if people recognize it as like, it was just like this person “Oh, who went in to Chinatown every week to take classes for two I feel like they think hours.” more official if I like an official class, like a white person needing it’s it’s like, don’t know, the class or something. So yeah—I list it on my résumé [with] the Chinese name for wouldn’t it. I just called it the [abbreviation] Art Center… Although most reported techniques involved omitting or Adding “white” experience. changing the description of certain experiences, several respondents also mentioned trying to change the of the résumé by adding or extraprofessional “feel” “white” “Americanized” experiences and interests. A male college student of Bangladeshi descent, who was born and grew up in the U.S and had work experience in a federal government agency, explained: the lower, miscellaneous or interest category of a résumé that a lot of people have, a There’s lot of the times where you want to kind of Americanize your interests. You want that’s don’t to be too multicultural with your interests there. So a lot of people will put, you know, hiking or snowboarding or things that are very common to America or Western culture… A female college student of Chinese descent similarly emphasized the of the “interests” section résumé: I kind of want to distinguish myself and not just be the perfect cookie-cutter “So So in my section I say that really into wilderness stuff or like Asian… ‘interests’ I’m travelling.” REASONS FOR AND AGAINST RÉSUMÉ WHITENING Motives for Whitening Every respondent who reported using whitening techniques said that they did so to improve their chances of getting a job by avoiding anticipated discrimination. Yet, job seekers
whatever or Korean community services. And actually sometimes I’ve noticed I take out the word ‘Korean’ and just put the generic [organization name] on my résumé.” Respondents explained that these more generic or race-neutral descriptions of activities would seem “more prestigious” or “more official” to employers. For example, an Asian college student described her rationale for using a “generic English name” of an art center on her résumé, rather than the center’s official, Chinese name: I list this art class that I took in Chinatown in New York City. But it seems to me it seems less official or less substantial if people recognize it as like, “Oh, it was just like this person who went in to Chinatown every week to take classes for two hours.” I feel like they think it’s more official if it’s like, I don’t know, like an official class, like a white person needing the class or something. So yeah—I wouldn’t list it on my résumé [with] the Chinese name for it. I just called it the [abbreviation] Art Center… Adding “white” experience. Although most reported techniques involved omitting or changing the description of certain experiences, several respondents also mentioned trying to change the “feel” of the résumé by adding “white” or “Americanized” extraprofessional experiences and interests. A male college student of Bangladeshi descent, who was born and grew up in the U.S and had work experience in a federal government agency, explained: There’s the lower, miscellaneous or interest category of a résumé that a lot of people have, a lot of the times that’s where you want to kind of Americanize your interests. You don’t want to be too multicultural with your interests there. So a lot of people will put, you know, hiking or snowboarding or things that are very common to America or Western culture… A female college student of Chinese descent similarly emphasized the “interests” section of the résumé: “So I kind of want to distinguish myself and not just be the perfect cookie-cutter Asian… So in my ‘interests’ section I say that I’m really into wilderness stuff or like travelling.” REASONS FOR AND AGAINST RÉSUMÉ WHITENING Motives for Whitening Every respondent who reported using whitening techniques said that they did so to improve their chances of getting a job by avoiding anticipated discrimination. Yet, job seekers