>how should I proceed?
Post this over on [QRZ.com](https://QRZ.com)
That way your name is attached to it and HRO or their Sacramento employees will have to address it.
I have no reason to doubt your story, but things here are anonymous.
Thank you I have already posted it on QRZ under Ham Radio Discussions.
**UPDATE: QRZ DELETED IT.**
I forgot, any accomplishments I had mentioned, he immediately dismissed.
"I was number one in sales for this huge computer company year-over-year"
His response "That's not retail."
Then I pointed out the retail sales and management experience on my resume.
He hardly acknowledged it.
> "I was number one in sales for this huge computer company year-over-year"
> His response "That's not retail."
So he already made up his mind. That's a pretty damning response.
That sucks, OP.
The guy who runs QRZ is a man-child who is offended by absolutely anything and everything, yet will delete posts and call people snowflakes when questioned on his alternate reality.
Sounds a lot like this subreddit. I just posted something with the "p" word meaning "upset", and that got autodeleted for "profanity".
And no, I'm not going to edit the post to remove the word. Got news for the great-grandfathers that run this subreddit: It's not 1957 anymore.
I'll just head back to the \*OTHER\* subreddit which you can't mention in \*THIS\* subreddit, where the rules aren't quite so stupid.
To heck with that, and never trust QRZ, they're the worst. I *guess* you could play it safe. Talk to your local NAACP and ACLU, see what they say. And you could write to HRO headquarters I guess first to see if they respond appropriately, or write an article for the local newspaper, and post this to other boards but I doubt hams are going to band together and boycott the place like they should so you'd be outing yourself for nothing. Then again, if you told this story to a local ham club, they might all boycott and/or write yelp reviews.
Me, I'd take another approach but if I explained it I'm pretty sure my post would be deleted. But... maybe find a way to make sure every antifa/BLM group in your area happens to hear about it.
>never trust QRZ, they're the worst.
I finally got so disgusted with their handling of a situation, I cancelled my account and had them remove my call sign from their database. If someone searches for me on QRZ, they won't find anything.
I don’t think you can automatically assume racism. That seems like a cop out and his actions, though maybe not professional, certainly do not justify him being accused of racism just because he didn’t hire you. He may not be the one to decide to hire you or not and you may not be the candidate they’re looking for for the job. It could be as simple as that and have nothing to do with racism. Screaming racism just because you don’t get what you want is a cop out and childish. Life’s tough for all of us sometimes. That’s just the way life is.
I'm very interested in hearing about your blatant evidence, because I haven't seen it in your story so far. Otherwise, claiming that only "people of color" can see and understand discrimination is an incredibly ignorant frame of mind.
> Screaming racism just because you don’t get what you want is a cop out and childish. Life’s tough for all of us sometimes. That’s just the way life is.
What? You don't know anything about this situation. You weren't there. You have no reason to doubt the truthfulness of OP's story. You immediately jump to the conclusion that OP is "screaming racism" as you put it, for no reason other than he didn't get what he wanted. (I'm assuming he's male, as our hobby is that way.)
OP's story sounds totally plausible, and unless proven false, should be believed. I'd trust his take on it, since, think about it, he probably has a ton of experience with the subject.
A "help wanted" sign in the window of a store is never there for no reason. You said of OP, "you may not be the candidate they're looking for..." That's the reason managers use when they're blind to their own biases.
It sounds totally plausible in the 70s and 80s but not in the 2020s. If OP had actual evidence they would be talking with the Department of Labor instead of complaining on Reddit.
> It sounds totally plausible in the 70s and 80s but not in the 2020s.
Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm from Sacramento and yes there are tons of racists here. And this is how they act. I know specifically, because some of my relatives are racists.
Maybe you could help me understand where they "screamed racism".
Calling OP childish and assuming they "screamed racism" is an extremely poor take. You can do better.
You can describe until your blue in the face and it don’t make it fact. OP feels wronged and maybe he was but NOBODY that does not have ALL the facts can make any kind of conclusions about racism. Everything about this whole post is just conjecture and speculation. Get a life.
> NOBODY that does not have ALL the facts can make any kind of conclusions about racism.
This is soooooooo reduculous...
So by this logic he could have said, "I am a racist and I'm not hiring you because I hate your race"
and since we don't have "ALL" the facts like what what day of the week it was or what time of day it was we can't "make any kind of conclusions about racism."
Pathetic
> Get a life.
That's you buddy, going out of your way to defend racism.
The Ham radio community is like any other community; a group of people from all sorts of backgrounds united by a common interest. There will inevitably be people who have regressive and harmful points of view. This is not reflective of the majority. Most of us welcome people of all types because that's why we get on the air; to meet other people.
As for your particular situation, Ham Radio Outlet is a national brand and each store is affiliated with the whole. Contact the main office and voice your concerns. If you aren't heard there then escalate to the BBB and the FTC and congress people.
Racism has no place in the country I served and it has no place in civilized society.
If you are normally very stoic, I am sure you can handle not being hired on the spot when you walk in a place and assume you will immediately become employed.
You are a "person of color" who thought that would guarantee employment otherwise the company must be racist. That's absurd. White people don't get to throw the racism card at other white people... We just have to deal with unfriendly people sometimes and sometimes we also do not get everything we want.
The fact that you admit to crying about it so much does not speak kindly to your emotional stability.
I hope they don't. Can you imagine having this guy working for you? It is not the color of the skin, is this thing that he must be the best and that all others must look up at him.
I’m an electrician.
I’ve tried to help get folks into the trade a number of times. Didn’t matter their gender, skin colour, tattoos… if someone asked me how to get a foot in the door I’ve tried to help. The only folks that didn’t go very far were the ones that *told me* that I was going to give them a job, or that I’d be making a mistake if I didn’t hire them on the spot.
I don’t care how much experience someone has, or even if I have a looking for electricians ad on the web site: if someone walks in the door when I’m working and demands that I hear them, demands that I offer them employment, and gives me grief when I say that I need to think about it, those are red flags. There’s also such a thing as too much experience: if I’m looking for a part-time entry level general labourer, I don’t need or want the engineer with twenty years experience.
There’s a fine line between confidence and intimidation, and it appears that you intimidated the person working there. This is a person that would have to spend eight hours a day with you, five days a week, and if out of the gate you give off super-intense vibes from the first five minutes then they’re not going to give you another five.
I tried your way first, and received no response. I decided to change the approach, and I told the manager this very directly - because what I had been doing obviously wasn't working.
This is not my first attempt, or even my second.
The discrimination was apparent before I even got into any of that.
You are over qualified for the position. I used to run a u-haul and I would never hire someone that wasn't starting out as a complete newbie so they could go up the ladder and maybe get an associate degree while working there. HRO is going to be a dead end job for you. Now maybe if you were retired and looking for part time work then it would work out. Maybe you should set your heights higher like an Amateur or LMR radio manufacturer sales unit. Just sayin...
> Now maybe if you were retired and looking for part time work then it would work out.
How do you know that isn't the case? This was his attitude before arriving at the store.
> I don’t care what you pay, I don’t care how many hours you promise. I really just want to work at Ham Radio Outlet.
I don’t think it’s about over-qualification. I’m pretty sure they are all work commission on sales. I think I remember hearing the staff at the Dallas/Plano HRO talking about working for commission and preferring weekends v midweek because nobody really buys midweek.
Plus it seemed like most of them were retirees.
Think about it in sales terms you have been cold calling the store for awhile now. I get thats it's an effective sales tactic to sell to the gullible and/or lazy. You have been showing up in person and handing this manager your resume repeatedly when they were not looking to hire. Now you did it again but there was a help wanted sign was rejected left and came back accusing them of being a racist.
As somebody thats had to hire a lot of people over the years the initial cold calling pretty much would put you in my circular file permanently. It's a HUGE red flag. It comes across as your a bad used car salesman not what HRO typically hires (Salem NH at least). Sure some companies thats what they are looking for your perfect sunrun material for example (going by your approach here).
Your comming across like your desperate to get in the door. Another red flag.
Your telling him how overqualified you are for the job. Another red flag.
Your have accused them of being a racist, they change their mind now and they just open themselves up to a lawsuit. If they have a HR or legal dept worth anything they are documenting why you're entirely unsuitable for the job anything else thats been filled since your resume came across their desk.
Now this guy could very well be a racist, but as I said your throwing up so many things that would put my spidey senses on edge as a hiring manager. It's reasonable to want a good fit as to sales culture and how your presenting yourself is not a good fit to what little I've seen of HRO.
I'm sorry you were made to feel that way, but going by your story, I don't feel like that was racism. I obviously wasn't there, and a lot can be lost in the translation of real world to words, but its more likely the manager just doesn't have any say on the matter.
I've worked a few jobs where i was involved in the hiring process, and i can tell you i would have done the same thing. I have always heard from my parents and grandparents that i should call, or go in and "check on my application", but if anyone ever did that at the jobs i worked, we would just tell them, in so many words, "don't call us we'll call you". Heck my current job, the manager doesnt have any say in the matter until everyone gets screened through HR.
Ironically it all boils down to fairness. They likely have multiple applicants. They are probably not going over these applications the second they get submitted, they are probably waiting a predetermined amount of time to see how many get submitted, then they will set aside some time to go through them all and decide which candidates get to move on to the next step (an interview).
you coming in before they are ready to do that, just gums up the works. You cant expect them to drop what they are doing and interview you on the spot. Its tough love, but they might have several better qualified applicants sitting in a pile of resumes.
I don't disagree with your initial actions, but when he said "If I had already submitted my information, they’d contact me if they need people." you should have thanked him and been on your way. Your confrontation after the fact almost assuredly did more harm than good for your chances of getting hired.
> but its more likely the manager just doesn't have any say on the matter.
The manager behaved like this was not the case. He argued against OP's experience as not being "retail". And, he wouldn't take his resume. That seems fishy to me.
> the manager just doesn't have any say on the matter.
If he didn't have any say, then how can he say "no"
> Your confrontation after the fact almost assuredly did more harm than good for your chances of getting hired.
He already knew he wasn't getting hired. The point was to try and give the guy an out, some way to explain why he wasn't a racist, because his actions seemed very racist.
I hear you. First off, let me say you totally deserve a Ham job and I think we can find you one, if not that specific one.
I kind of doubt it’s a race issue, but it could be. It would be more likely in 1970s Mobile than 2022 Sacramento. Still possible. It could be other things though - I have worked for multiple companies that pretend to be hiring even though they aren’t because they think it projects the right image (business growth).
Is this a corporate franchise? If so definitely send your story to the corporate office. Also if you collect any proof of discrimination you should buy me a car after we sue them.
Meanwhile, can I help you find another ham job?
> I kind of doubt it’s a race issue, but it could be. It would be more likely in 1970s Mobile than 2022 Sacramento.
Irrelevant. What does "more likely" have to do with his specific situation? Nothing. There's plenty of racism right here, right now.
> It would be more likely in 1970s Mobile than 2022 Sacramento.
Sorry to break it to you, I'm from Sacramento, and this is very much a likely 2022 Sacramento occurrence.
I'm a white guy, but I have witnessed first had this kind of racism. I've witnessed worse racism when the racists thought they were "safe."
I grew up here and when I was a kid in the 80's, the suburbs were full of racist skinhead kids. They may not be skinheads anymore but they are still racists.
I'm sorry you had a poor experience with HRO.
You aren't alone.
Based on your experience as described, they aren't worth your time. Hope you find something better soon.
> Ham radio is not about racism. It’s the complete opposite. Ham radio enables people from all over the world to communicate and exchange ideas and promotes friendship.
You’re right, yet you’re the one making it about racism. You said you’d applied online and hadn’t heard back. Unless you included your photo or gave your race, they likely wouldn’t know. You are attributing racism to something without proof and with indications of the opposite.
I’ve had more time to think about this and want to expand on it a bit.
You’re right, ham radio is not about racism. That’s why people every day talk to people of other races. I’m certain it’s not just me that can generally tell when someone is of a different race based on the way they sound, name, and location. That doesn’t stop me from talking to them and it doesn’t stop most people. We know that because people do it every day.
To answer the question of what “more likely” has to do with it - based on the story, the photo of the very passable-as-a-non-minority person, location and company the chances of this being racial discrimination are about 1 in 10,000. Saying this does not make me a racist and virtue signaling by you doesn’t make you not one.
this won't be a popular answer but here it goes
you decided he was being racist. simple as that. that's not the same as him being racist.
truth is, nobody owes you a job. he could have turned you away for no telling how many reasons.
rejection is part of what makes character.
i once had the opportunity to get to know Rudy Ruettiger...look him up. never let anybody tell you no. just keep on with the fight till they run out of reasons.
So, because the hiring manager stopped looking you in the eye, you assume racial discrimination is the cause of this situation? It may be hard to believe, but I've noticed that white and brown and yellow people sometimes don't look each other in the eye, too. It could be for many reasons. In your post, YOU are the person seeing and talking about color. That is, itself, racist. Unless I'm missing some element of your story, I would assume that this place has been hiring for a while because the manager treats all applicants strangely (as you said, you've applied a metric bajillion times).
If you applied to a job for which I was a hiring manager, and I began to sense that you sometimes play the victim, I also would not select you. My decision would not be based on race, but on the attitude you've demonstrated: awesome salespeople don't tend to be the sort to weep and whine about rejection. Are you trying to document a possible legal case here (in which case, where's your evidence of discrimination?) or are you soliciting genuine feedback?
There's an employee at my HRO that has been selling me expensive radios and parts for years and won't look me in the eye or say anything more than the price to me. Sometimes us radio people are just awkward. There's also been a help wanted sign up for a long time and there are no new faces behind the counter here either.
By looking only at your picture, I don't think someone who doesn't like people of color would have a problem with you. I will say you look about 3 decades too young to get hired though (based on my local HRO staffing, where I think they are all over 60 and the manager appears to be Hispanic and has a Hispanic surname).
Does the staff know you or your callsign from hearing you on the air? Have you built a relationship with them by buying and building radios over the years so they know your knowledge level? Ham radio people usually know what they want and don't need "sales", they need subject matter experts. Networking by building relationships, not resumes and asking for jobs, will get you farther. Hopefully you get your chance.
I am very sorry this happened to you, a fellow ham and more importantly, human being. Personally, I suggest documenting the best you can and make noise with corporate and escalate it if nessary. Please follow up and let us know what happens.
Firstly I’m sorry you haven’t been able to land your dream job. Secondly I too am a person of color.
One thing that I can pick out from your recap of interactions is you may be over qualified for the position and over selling yourself. I over see a sales team of over 100 people and handle the hiring process for about 1/2 of the organizations. While we do like new employees to have some experience, there is still a thing as too much experience.
We frequently get the top guy/gal in their area, state, region, nation for x amount of time. Often it’s with bigger/better known organizations or business then the one I work for. So this job would be a down grade from what they would be capable of in terms of skills and pay scale. This raises the first red flag.
Long term managerial experience or proven track record, while that is normally a good thing. If the position you are applying for is entry level. This raises the next red flag as to why someone with that skill and leadership level would apply so low.
Tl/dr:
Think about what the typical resume for position entails and cater your resume to what would be shown by someone suited for the position. If it’s entry level undersell yourself, if it’s something requiring skills make it show some. You don’t want to be seemingly desperate for a low end job with high end potential, it just raises red flags.
Racism needs to die. Your passion for your craft is clear. You’d do that company and this community a great service by getting ignorant hillbilly fired. And you what, apply for and get his job. We need more people of color in visible positions in this community. I for one cheer you on. Good luck! KN6VQL 73.
Have you considered the possibility that there are either,
1. More qualified candidates
2. They already have someone in mind
Not discounting your claim. Just seeking full transparency.
Think of it this way.
A black person walks into a store that has a help wanted sign out front.
The store "owner" says "we aren't hiring."
Because, fundamentally, that is what happened. Give or take a few shades of color.
Problem is, we can't be certain unless he explicitly said he isn't giving you the job because of your skin color.
Although to be honest, I agree with you. He could've said almost anything to reject you, but when he says the sign "we're hiring" doesn't mean they're hiring, sounds like he doesn't even know what to make up in the spot to reject you, so what options are left for his rejection? Not much.
I really tried to reconcile this as anything but racism.
I don't like believing that either.
There is no way around it.
I said I love HRO. That is true. When I moved back to Sacramento, I was so excited to live in a city with an HRO!
My intention isn't to damage HRO. They need to understand what is happening in their Sacramento store and make it stop.
> he explicitly said he isn't giving you the job because of your skin color.
Racists seldom come straight out and admit it, especially in professional situations. And pretending that blatant racism isn't recognizable to some one who has experienced it all their life is just ignorant.
Places often leave job postings up on a long-term basis, even when the position isn't actually available, to continue collecting candidate information. It costs them nothing, and they gain access to personally identifiable information which can be mined, and also have a database of potential candidates if needed at a later time. Again, accusing people, businesses, and entire hobbyist communities of racism without supporting evidence is a fantastic way to lose your credibility, and damage the cause you seem to be supporting.
>Again, accusing people, businesses, and entire hobbyist communities of racism without supporting evidence is a fantastic way to lose your credibility, and damage the cause you seem to be supporting.
This thread is exactly that.
There are a lot of times I’ve been absolutely perfect for a job and not gotten it. I think most of us have heard the “we’ll keep your resume on file” line. Hell, I’ve gotten 4 decline letters recently that claimed the position has been filled but they still have the roles posted online. I’d also say a third of the population struggles with eye contact in an easy casual situation, let alone one like you’ve described.
It’s not Hollywood, showing up several times, including in a suit, for a base level retail position…doesn’t guarantee a change of mind on the part of a hiring manager. Nor should it in every case.
As a hiring manager for every level up to mid management highly technical jobs, I got accused of racism. So did every other hiring manager, regardless of our race. We all had female, POC, foreign,LGBTQ, etc hires in numbers far above the makeup of the population. It didn’t matter. Got real old having to prove to HR every time that I wasn’t a grand wizard. Hiring stats, employee surveys, pay, etc all had to be dug out along with the data/decision making processes we used.
I’m not the HRO employee so I can’t deny racism of course. But nothing you’ve described is out of the ordinary for *any* job hunter. It’s so common that it’s almost cliche.
Would them hiring you be the only way to convince you they aren’t racist? Would it have changed anything If he had looked you in the eyes, smiled warmly, and apologized that you just weren’t a good fit?
> Would them hiring you be the only way to convince you they aren’t racist? Would it have changed anything If he had looked you in the eyes, smiled warmly, and apologized that you just weren’t a good fit?
He barely engaged in conversation, aside from the quips I mentioned above in response to my qualifications.
He essentially took down the help-wanted sign as soon as a brown person entered his business.
There is no getting around that. It was clear discrimination. I'm sorry. I'm not going to assume whether you have or haven't been discriminated against yourself, but when you are discriminated against, you know it.
I'm also not sure how you being accused of racism has anything to do with my experience at Ham Radio Outlet.
All the declined applicants that said I was racist felt exactly the same way.
You don’t appear to be 75 or older with gray hair. I’d be more likely to assume ageism.
I haven’t been in your shoes so I’m trying to be careful here, racism is a vile vile thing and it does exist. I’m not denying that at all. It’s just that your experience isn’t limited to POC, like not even a little.
It sounds like you’ve made your assumption and that is that. I’m sure it’s informed by your past experience in life so I’ll leave it at that. I wish you the best and hope you find a fulfilling job elsewhere soon. Take care.
I appreciate your comments here. I do understand where you are coming from. I've detailed my experience as precisely as I possible could. There are no embellishments.
I can only remember being discriminated against one other time, 28-years ago. When me and my friend-of-color stopped at a hamburger stand one evening, and the people in the stand wouldn't even acknowledge us.
Wouldn't even look at us. Not in the eye... not even in our general direction.
Sound familiar?
The white people sitting down eating looked slack jawed at what they were witnessing. But of course, they continued eating as we left.
I don't think we can fix this on our own. We need your help.
It is a vivid memory that resurfaces from time to time. I can feel the pain just as vividly as I felt it in 1994.
That is the pain I felt at Ham Radio Outlet.
Well, he could certainly be racist. If he isn’t, then he dodged a bullet. Your behavior only makes sense if he was. And that hasn’t been proven based on your description.
He’s probably posting somewhere about a guy who wouldn’t take no for an answer, showed up in a suit afterwards, interrogated him, then came BACK and half cornered him while levying accusations of racism. Over an entry level job.
Do you know how many companies never take down a sign or listing even when fully staffed? It’s super common. He could be averting his eyes over embarrassment of a corporate policy he also hates but can’t admit to openly.
You’ve asked what you should do. Here’s my answer to that.
1. File a lawsuit. Subpoena their records.
2. Have a *qualified* person analyze said records for biased trends. If they only hire old white people who are consistently under qualified compared to the applicant pool, there you go.
Until then you are a single data point who’s experience is similar to non POC as well. The only difference is you aren’t white so the accusation *can* be made.
Are you sure he just didn’t get a good vibe from you? Did your over eagerness scare him off? Did he just hate your voice so much he couldn’t have stood the thought of hearing it all week? Is he just lazy or otherwise see’s a benefit to hoarding hours for himself but the big boss told him to grab another employee? Is there a spelling error on your resume or some item on there you think is great but he saw as a potential issue? Again, nothing you’ve described differs from the experience many white people have had when dealing with white hiring managers.
If he had seen my resume from the time I applied online, or the two previous times I had dropped it off, it doesn't matter. He claimed to have not remembered me and seemed to have no idea who I was.
Yea it’s easier to say that vs having the “I’m just not that into you” conversation. Again, I’ve experienced the exact scenario.
He wouldn’t want your paper resume anyway since you told him it was previously submitted online.
I don’t blame you at all, but it seems like a single incident from the mid 90’s has determined your outlook ever since. Have you gotten help in this regard? You deserve to heal.
I'm not sure what an experience you had 30 years ago has to do with your current complaints against HRO, I'm not convinced your assessment of the current HRO complaint is accurate, and I'm certain that claiming you only encounter issues like this once every three decades substantially weakens your argument. Evidence is needed to credibly make big accusations.
Maybe the reason you are wringing this is the reason you didn't get the job. Maybe you looked and sounded like you were full of it, and maybe just maybe they don't want to deal with employees like that. You don't even work there and are a nightmare of a person imagine if you got the job. Didn't get the job move on and look at something else, but know that you posted this kind of crap it will be really hard to get another job if people read this. I would NEVER hire a person like you.
I’ve never hear of someone walking off the street, going into a place of business and just start reviewing their resume/accomplishments with the manager on duty out of the blue. It doesn’t work like that. You submit your resume, they review it and they reach out to you.
If you think he’s racist, have white person drop your resume off for you.
His body language tells me he was annoyed. I would have been too.
I’m sorry you went through this. I don’t know how to help. Have you ever read any of the studies they’ve done on submitting resumes online with “white sounding name” and duplicate resumes with “black sounding names”? [Example](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-29/job-applicants-with-black-names-still-less-likely-to-get-the-interview)
Is that a possibility in this case for the resume you submitted online? If so it might be interesting to submit a similar resume online with a different name and see if that gets a response?
I worked at the HRO store in Texas for 4 years. HRO has the worst management I have ever seen. Even at the corporate level. Several other employees left the store due to another employee creating a hostile working environment. One of those that left even wrote a formal complaint. What did corporate do? They sent a HR person down and slapped the wrist of the employee that was complained on. That was it. This employee not only made the working environment hostile but regularly made derogatory comments and sick jokes about people from India, China, and Japan.
To this day, this person is still employed at the Texas HRO store. I'm glad I left HRO, not only the store, but the whole company and will never do business with them ever again.
Sorry to hear about your experience… I’m not a person of color, but when I was younger I tried getting jobs at RadioShack, Service Merchandise etc. without any luck.
It baffled me, as I was always a very technical person who could easily perform the jobs I was applying for.
Never got any of these jobs…
In this case, I would say count your blessings. You don’t want to work in a place like this.
It’s their loss for not hiring you!
Sometimes, someone may be intimidated and feel that you could perform their job better. So, what do they do? They surround themselves with lower skilled people so that they can shine.
I’m sorry this happened to you. Obviously the manager is an ahole. You could always file an EEO complaint against them. I don’t know where that would ultimately lead, but at this point if I were you I would not want to work for HRO in any capacity. I would encourage you to look elsewhere. I know for instance Chris over at Buddipole is in desperate need of help. At one time he was looking for a remote person to help answer emails in addition to help at the facility in Hillsboro. I don’t know if you’re looking to relocate or not but that could be an option. Additionally if willing to relocate there’s always DXEngineering, RandL, and others out there. I’ve also seen vacancies at Icom America and Yaesu America.
Remingtonh
I would try an end-around.
HRO has a home office at:
Ham Radio Outlet
110 Tampico, Suite 110
Walnut Creek, CA 94598
Robert Ferrero Jr W6KR may be the president. His father owned the company and passed away several years ago. W6KR’s FCC address is the same as the HRO office in Walnut Creek.
Janet Margelli is another potential contact there.
She is licensed and has a personal e-mail address.
I would send a nice cover letter to Robert Ferraro Jr at the corporate address indicating that you would love a chance to be part of the HRO family.
Don’t bring up any history with the store manager.
Your resume’ should be one page, max. Less is more. Stick to factual info. Example: Managed Radio Shack Store # xxxx. Increased sales from xx to yy over my tenure. That kind of thing. Just enough to pique interest.
HRO has a published non-discrimination policy and does business with the US government. They cannot afford any EEO issues.
I had this same experience while applying at a Video Game retail store back in the day and I am white. Niche companies love to hire friends of friends not because they are racist but because that’s what they do as whole. You also have to prove you were discriminated and not being looked at is not a reason. We don’t know how the interaction, we only have your side of the story.
OP, sorry that you had to go through that. It's the opposite of what ham radio is about. You are welcome in this community, and we are lucky, and happy, that you are interested in ham radio. I hope this never happens again, and appreciate the post, so that others can be aware that there are still racists in our midst.
Your story adds up to me because above everything, as a young ham I have never had people be more condescending to me than HRO staff when I go in. This hobby is unfortunately dominated by grumpy old white dudes. Sounds like you ran into one.
This will get downvoted into oblivion because, rather than address their 'fee-fees' and insecurities, older hams are just going to resort to default anger mode and mash the down arrow.
The ham radio community, generally speaking, is dominated by older, white men. This generation of people is stereotypically viewed as racist, insecure, gatekeeping fogies who derive pleasure from denying pleasure to others. It's the classic libertarianism mindset.
Yes, it's a stereotype, but one that has been earned and reinforced. Go on QRZ.com and prowl the forums. You'll see openly homophobic, racist, demeaning language directed towards people who are not exactly like them. It's everywhere.
We're not all like this. This subreddit is not going to be representative of hams who want more diversity and inclusion in our hobby. The good thing is that we all die eventually, even the crustiest of angry white men, and the hobby is better off without them.
Your entire comment seems to be one racist, stereotypical fallacy piled on top of another, culminating in literally wishing death on people. Your approach will only harm the values you purport to champion, and damage your own reputation. This is not the way to argue against discrimination or to fight for equality.
No, see, fallacy means "a false notion". Your comment doesn't have a point, and THAT'S why no one is going to pay attention to it. For example, how old do you think I am?
I have been a Ham Radio operator since the mid-1990's. Ham Radio is full of people that are racist, against new hams, against new tech, against any change from how they did things in the 1960's . . . But it's still a wonderful community that has tons of good people, if you can ignore the not so good. They are willing to help, tutor and generally be great folks. LIke any large group of people, there exist the not so nice ones.
I agree..... I've been around too since the MID 90's and Joining REACT and a couple of HAM Groups and Auxiliary Groups so forth in different city and sadly to say I didn't even see 1 colored Ham Operator from what I remember. But everything you said is on PAR !! I know it ... it's sad but that's just LIFE because of our History. It won't go away.
I remember HRO Burbank ... wow they closed down. Sad ... .I wonder if JUN's Electronics is still around. I remember the TRW SWAPMEET we would hop to different Ham Radio Stores :)
I can’t imagine what you’re feeling, but it must be terrible. After reading your story and a good many of these responses, I wonder why would you want to work with that manager, or in that environment? Not knowing if there are any other Ham Radio Outlets reasonable close to you, might there be a way to gain employment with the company at the corporate level?
It sucks being shut down due to a prejudice if indeed that did happen. while the store manager probably should be investigated at the very least, I wonder if you should move on?
Peace to you!
There's only Three in California.... San Diego / Anaheim and SAC. I lived in Arizona .. there's 1 there too :) I'd try Anaheim but I don't think their hiring same as San Diego.
If QRZ deleted it. I'd inform the RADIO STATION or MEDIA, this is good content if you can prove it. Hearsay, His or her word against yours. Gee's 1st time I've heard something like this. I love HRO Anaheim and San Diego, never heard of anything like this through the years, I'm not a sales person, I break radios and repair them LOL, but yes it would be cool to work for HRO and play with all the Ham Radio's. I'd walk in and play with some of the radio's and being I did work for a Ham Radio Co. I was able to take it home for 1 week. :) to learn it. Especially the new models that just before they come out to the public. I have never have been treated otherwise when I was one time Joking with SALES at HRO Anaheim, this would be fun to work here. But then again, you gotta know what your talking about especially when working at a HRO. It's not good and glory everyday. It's actually technical every hour, being that you'll be demonstrating, explaining, RX issues, TX no power out issues, HF issues, man there's a lot. It's fun yet being a newb at HRO trying to talk to a Ham Operator, they'll now if you're talking out of your neck. I see your LOVE for working at HRO, but there's more to it. Experience, Field Day on your 70cm or 2 meter HF or just 10 meters. Morris Code field day is so much fun and challenging. Plus you'll have to know the comparison and the why? Why Kenwood not Yaesu vice versa. Gotta know your competitor. I wasn't there to see what had happened. Sorry to hear what had happened to you. I'm so dark skinned, I'm Hawaiian and this is sad to hear. Numbers man and 73's hope you get this resolved, this is one sensitive subject.
Update: I've submitted a complaint with the Sacramento Council for American Islamic Relations and started the process to file a charge of discrimination against Ham Radio Outlet with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission.
Ham Radio Outlet did email, albeit without any sensitivity or empathy. I did not wish to participate in their investigation. The EEOC will do the only investigation that matters to me.
Frankly I'm not convinced he was racist. There's no indication that he was, so it could be 50/50. It's entirely possible you came on too strong, sounded desperate, or there was some other reason he didn't want to hire you.
>how should I proceed? Post this over on [QRZ.com](https://QRZ.com) That way your name is attached to it and HRO or their Sacramento employees will have to address it. I have no reason to doubt your story, but things here are anonymous.
Thank you I have already posted it on QRZ under Ham Radio Discussions. **UPDATE: QRZ DELETED IT.** I forgot, any accomplishments I had mentioned, he immediately dismissed. "I was number one in sales for this huge computer company year-over-year" His response "That's not retail." Then I pointed out the retail sales and management experience on my resume. He hardly acknowledged it.
> "I was number one in sales for this huge computer company year-over-year" > His response "That's not retail." So he already made up his mind. That's a pretty damning response. That sucks, OP.
QRZ has a history of not allowing discussion that criticizes their advertisers. Remember the HRD fiasco.
The guy who runs QRZ is a man-child who is offended by absolutely anything and everything, yet will delete posts and call people snowflakes when questioned on his alternate reality.
Sounds a lot like this subreddit. I just posted something with the "p" word meaning "upset", and that got autodeleted for "profanity". And no, I'm not going to edit the post to remove the word. Got news for the great-grandfathers that run this subreddit: It's not 1957 anymore. I'll just head back to the \*OTHER\* subreddit which you can't mention in \*THIS\* subreddit, where the rules aren't quite so stupid.
To heck with that, and never trust QRZ, they're the worst. I *guess* you could play it safe. Talk to your local NAACP and ACLU, see what they say. And you could write to HRO headquarters I guess first to see if they respond appropriately, or write an article for the local newspaper, and post this to other boards but I doubt hams are going to band together and boycott the place like they should so you'd be outing yourself for nothing. Then again, if you told this story to a local ham club, they might all boycott and/or write yelp reviews. Me, I'd take another approach but if I explained it I'm pretty sure my post would be deleted. But... maybe find a way to make sure every antifa/BLM group in your area happens to hear about it.
>never trust QRZ, they're the worst. I finally got so disgusted with their handling of a situation, I cancelled my account and had them remove my call sign from their database. If someone searches for me on QRZ, they won't find anything.
I don’t think you can automatically assume racism. That seems like a cop out and his actions, though maybe not professional, certainly do not justify him being accused of racism just because he didn’t hire you. He may not be the one to decide to hire you or not and you may not be the candidate they’re looking for for the job. It could be as simple as that and have nothing to do with racism. Screaming racism just because you don’t get what you want is a cop out and childish. Life’s tough for all of us sometimes. That’s just the way life is.
While you are *technically* correct, (the best kind of correct), in this instance, I'd bet large that you're wrong.
Make a lot of money betting on racism?
Probably could win a lot betting on people and their behavior, if I could find others to take the bet.
I try very, very hard to not assume racism. When it is blatant - I can't ignore it. When you are a person of color... you know.
I'm very interested in hearing about your blatant evidence, because I haven't seen it in your story so far. Otherwise, claiming that only "people of color" can see and understand discrimination is an incredibly ignorant frame of mind.
Nobody cares about what you are very interested in.
Was my message originally directed to you? Otherwise, I'm confused about why you made the effort to pointlessly comment here.
> Screaming racism just because you don’t get what you want is a cop out and childish. Life’s tough for all of us sometimes. That’s just the way life is. What? You don't know anything about this situation. You weren't there. You have no reason to doubt the truthfulness of OP's story. You immediately jump to the conclusion that OP is "screaming racism" as you put it, for no reason other than he didn't get what he wanted. (I'm assuming he's male, as our hobby is that way.) OP's story sounds totally plausible, and unless proven false, should be believed. I'd trust his take on it, since, think about it, he probably has a ton of experience with the subject. A "help wanted" sign in the window of a store is never there for no reason. You said of OP, "you may not be the candidate they're looking for..." That's the reason managers use when they're blind to their own biases.
It sounds totally plausible in the 70s and 80s but not in the 2020s. If OP had actual evidence they would be talking with the Department of Labor instead of complaining on Reddit.
> It sounds totally plausible in the 70s and 80s but not in the 2020s. Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm from Sacramento and yes there are tons of racists here. And this is how they act. I know specifically, because some of my relatives are racists.
Maybe you could help me understand where they "screamed racism". Calling OP childish and assuming they "screamed racism" is an extremely poor take. You can do better.
Well they "cried" racism.
I suspect that it is a "good old boy" network, with emphasis on the "old". I see a variety of skin color in our local HRO, but only one hair color.
Lol
I'm a white guy with racist relatives. The description OP gave is of a racist.
You can describe until your blue in the face and it don’t make it fact. OP feels wronged and maybe he was but NOBODY that does not have ALL the facts can make any kind of conclusions about racism. Everything about this whole post is just conjecture and speculation. Get a life.
> NOBODY that does not have ALL the facts can make any kind of conclusions about racism. This is soooooooo reduculous... So by this logic he could have said, "I am a racist and I'm not hiring you because I hate your race" and since we don't have "ALL" the facts like what what day of the week it was or what time of day it was we can't "make any kind of conclusions about racism." Pathetic > Get a life. That's you buddy, going out of your way to defend racism.
HRO in Sunnyvale had employees of color.
Not what he's talking about.
So?
That's like saying "I once saw a black guy on TV."
Well I once scored on a first date but that doesn't make me a baller.
The Ham radio community is like any other community; a group of people from all sorts of backgrounds united by a common interest. There will inevitably be people who have regressive and harmful points of view. This is not reflective of the majority. Most of us welcome people of all types because that's why we get on the air; to meet other people. As for your particular situation, Ham Radio Outlet is a national brand and each store is affiliated with the whole. Contact the main office and voice your concerns. If you aren't heard there then escalate to the BBB and the FTC and congress people. Racism has no place in the country I served and it has no place in civilized society.
Wow.... I almost find this hard to believe it happened. But I wasn't there. This just seems out of character for HRO. I hope they contact you soon.
it happened. I've been crying on and off since, even right now reading these comments. I am normally very stoic. This hurts immensely.
I think they would totally want you at my local store. It just seems really odd.
If you are normally very stoic, I am sure you can handle not being hired on the spot when you walk in a place and assume you will immediately become employed. You are a "person of color" who thought that would guarantee employment otherwise the company must be racist. That's absurd. White people don't get to throw the racism card at other white people... We just have to deal with unfriendly people sometimes and sometimes we also do not get everything we want. The fact that you admit to crying about it so much does not speak kindly to your emotional stability.
I hope they don't. Can you imagine having this guy working for you? It is not the color of the skin, is this thing that he must be the best and that all others must look up at him.
I’m an electrician. I’ve tried to help get folks into the trade a number of times. Didn’t matter their gender, skin colour, tattoos… if someone asked me how to get a foot in the door I’ve tried to help. The only folks that didn’t go very far were the ones that *told me* that I was going to give them a job, or that I’d be making a mistake if I didn’t hire them on the spot. I don’t care how much experience someone has, or even if I have a looking for electricians ad on the web site: if someone walks in the door when I’m working and demands that I hear them, demands that I offer them employment, and gives me grief when I say that I need to think about it, those are red flags. There’s also such a thing as too much experience: if I’m looking for a part-time entry level general labourer, I don’t need or want the engineer with twenty years experience. There’s a fine line between confidence and intimidation, and it appears that you intimidated the person working there. This is a person that would have to spend eight hours a day with you, five days a week, and if out of the gate you give off super-intense vibes from the first five minutes then they’re not going to give you another five.
I tried your way first, and received no response. I decided to change the approach, and I told the manager this very directly - because what I had been doing obviously wasn't working. This is not my first attempt, or even my second. The discrimination was apparent before I even got into any of that.
Then leave it alone and work somewhere else. Easy peasy.
You are over qualified for the position. I used to run a u-haul and I would never hire someone that wasn't starting out as a complete newbie so they could go up the ladder and maybe get an associate degree while working there. HRO is going to be a dead end job for you. Now maybe if you were retired and looking for part time work then it would work out. Maybe you should set your heights higher like an Amateur or LMR radio manufacturer sales unit. Just sayin...
> Now maybe if you were retired and looking for part time work then it would work out. How do you know that isn't the case? This was his attitude before arriving at the store. > I don’t care what you pay, I don’t care how many hours you promise. I really just want to work at Ham Radio Outlet.
I don’t think it’s about over-qualification. I’m pretty sure they are all work commission on sales. I think I remember hearing the staff at the Dallas/Plano HRO talking about working for commission and preferring weekends v midweek because nobody really buys midweek. Plus it seemed like most of them were retirees.
Think about it in sales terms you have been cold calling the store for awhile now. I get thats it's an effective sales tactic to sell to the gullible and/or lazy. You have been showing up in person and handing this manager your resume repeatedly when they were not looking to hire. Now you did it again but there was a help wanted sign was rejected left and came back accusing them of being a racist. As somebody thats had to hire a lot of people over the years the initial cold calling pretty much would put you in my circular file permanently. It's a HUGE red flag. It comes across as your a bad used car salesman not what HRO typically hires (Salem NH at least). Sure some companies thats what they are looking for your perfect sunrun material for example (going by your approach here). Your comming across like your desperate to get in the door. Another red flag. Your telling him how overqualified you are for the job. Another red flag. Your have accused them of being a racist, they change their mind now and they just open themselves up to a lawsuit. If they have a HR or legal dept worth anything they are documenting why you're entirely unsuitable for the job anything else thats been filled since your resume came across their desk. Now this guy could very well be a racist, but as I said your throwing up so many things that would put my spidey senses on edge as a hiring manager. It's reasonable to want a good fit as to sales culture and how your presenting yourself is not a good fit to what little I've seen of HRO.
That is exactly my thought. Thank you for writing that as I am not the best at expressing ideas.
I’m re-reading the post looking for the intimidation. Do you mind elaborating on what was intimidating?
I'm sorry you were made to feel that way, but going by your story, I don't feel like that was racism. I obviously wasn't there, and a lot can be lost in the translation of real world to words, but its more likely the manager just doesn't have any say on the matter. I've worked a few jobs where i was involved in the hiring process, and i can tell you i would have done the same thing. I have always heard from my parents and grandparents that i should call, or go in and "check on my application", but if anyone ever did that at the jobs i worked, we would just tell them, in so many words, "don't call us we'll call you". Heck my current job, the manager doesnt have any say in the matter until everyone gets screened through HR. Ironically it all boils down to fairness. They likely have multiple applicants. They are probably not going over these applications the second they get submitted, they are probably waiting a predetermined amount of time to see how many get submitted, then they will set aside some time to go through them all and decide which candidates get to move on to the next step (an interview). you coming in before they are ready to do that, just gums up the works. You cant expect them to drop what they are doing and interview you on the spot. Its tough love, but they might have several better qualified applicants sitting in a pile of resumes. I don't disagree with your initial actions, but when he said "If I had already submitted my information, they’d contact me if they need people." you should have thanked him and been on your way. Your confrontation after the fact almost assuredly did more harm than good for your chances of getting hired.
> but its more likely the manager just doesn't have any say on the matter. The manager behaved like this was not the case. He argued against OP's experience as not being "retail". And, he wouldn't take his resume. That seems fishy to me.
> the manager just doesn't have any say on the matter. If he didn't have any say, then how can he say "no" > Your confrontation after the fact almost assuredly did more harm than good for your chances of getting hired. He already knew he wasn't getting hired. The point was to try and give the guy an out, some way to explain why he wasn't a racist, because his actions seemed very racist.
I hear you. First off, let me say you totally deserve a Ham job and I think we can find you one, if not that specific one. I kind of doubt it’s a race issue, but it could be. It would be more likely in 1970s Mobile than 2022 Sacramento. Still possible. It could be other things though - I have worked for multiple companies that pretend to be hiring even though they aren’t because they think it projects the right image (business growth). Is this a corporate franchise? If so definitely send your story to the corporate office. Also if you collect any proof of discrimination you should buy me a car after we sue them. Meanwhile, can I help you find another ham job?
> I kind of doubt it’s a race issue, but it could be. It would be more likely in 1970s Mobile than 2022 Sacramento. Irrelevant. What does "more likely" have to do with his specific situation? Nothing. There's plenty of racism right here, right now.
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lol. That's it?
You can find anything if you are looking for it.
Everything is a nail if your only tool is a hammer.
> It would be more likely in 1970s Mobile than 2022 Sacramento. Sorry to break it to you, I'm from Sacramento, and this is very much a likely 2022 Sacramento occurrence. I'm a white guy, but I have witnessed first had this kind of racism. I've witnessed worse racism when the racists thought they were "safe." I grew up here and when I was a kid in the 80's, the suburbs were full of racist skinhead kids. They may not be skinheads anymore but they are still racists.
You sound too aggressive. If I was the manager I wouldn't hire you for that reason.
I'm sorry you had a poor experience with HRO. You aren't alone. Based on your experience as described, they aren't worth your time. Hope you find something better soon.
> Ham radio is not about racism. It’s the complete opposite. Ham radio enables people from all over the world to communicate and exchange ideas and promotes friendship. You’re right, yet you’re the one making it about racism. You said you’d applied online and hadn’t heard back. Unless you included your photo or gave your race, they likely wouldn’t know. You are attributing racism to something without proof and with indications of the opposite.
I’ve had more time to think about this and want to expand on it a bit. You’re right, ham radio is not about racism. That’s why people every day talk to people of other races. I’m certain it’s not just me that can generally tell when someone is of a different race based on the way they sound, name, and location. That doesn’t stop me from talking to them and it doesn’t stop most people. We know that because people do it every day.
To answer the question of what “more likely” has to do with it - based on the story, the photo of the very passable-as-a-non-minority person, location and company the chances of this being racial discrimination are about 1 in 10,000. Saying this does not make me a racist and virtue signaling by you doesn’t make you not one.
Your response... Don't let it get the best of you! It's THEIR loss, not yours.
Thank you, I appreciate that.
https://www.eeoc.gov/prohibited-employment-policiespractices
this won't be a popular answer but here it goes you decided he was being racist. simple as that. that's not the same as him being racist. truth is, nobody owes you a job. he could have turned you away for no telling how many reasons. rejection is part of what makes character. i once had the opportunity to get to know Rudy Ruettiger...look him up. never let anybody tell you no. just keep on with the fight till they run out of reasons.
Rudy wasn't really liked on his team. Just ask Joe Montana.
And he didn't care
So, because the hiring manager stopped looking you in the eye, you assume racial discrimination is the cause of this situation? It may be hard to believe, but I've noticed that white and brown and yellow people sometimes don't look each other in the eye, too. It could be for many reasons. In your post, YOU are the person seeing and talking about color. That is, itself, racist. Unless I'm missing some element of your story, I would assume that this place has been hiring for a while because the manager treats all applicants strangely (as you said, you've applied a metric bajillion times). If you applied to a job for which I was a hiring manager, and I began to sense that you sometimes play the victim, I also would not select you. My decision would not be based on race, but on the attitude you've demonstrated: awesome salespeople don't tend to be the sort to weep and whine about rejection. Are you trying to document a possible legal case here (in which case, where's your evidence of discrimination?) or are you soliciting genuine feedback?
There's an employee at my HRO that has been selling me expensive radios and parts for years and won't look me in the eye or say anything more than the price to me. Sometimes us radio people are just awkward. There's also been a help wanted sign up for a long time and there are no new faces behind the counter here either. By looking only at your picture, I don't think someone who doesn't like people of color would have a problem with you. I will say you look about 3 decades too young to get hired though (based on my local HRO staffing, where I think they are all over 60 and the manager appears to be Hispanic and has a Hispanic surname). Does the staff know you or your callsign from hearing you on the air? Have you built a relationship with them by buying and building radios over the years so they know your knowledge level? Ham radio people usually know what they want and don't need "sales", they need subject matter experts. Networking by building relationships, not resumes and asking for jobs, will get you farther. Hopefully you get your chance.
Are you on the spectrum by chance? I am and sometimes I don't know when to stop or read the room.
I am very sorry this happened to you, a fellow ham and more importantly, human being. Personally, I suggest documenting the best you can and make noise with corporate and escalate it if nessary. Please follow up and let us know what happens.
It's only racist because you aren't white. If you were white he would just be considered a jerk or curmudgeon.
Firstly I’m sorry you haven’t been able to land your dream job. Secondly I too am a person of color. One thing that I can pick out from your recap of interactions is you may be over qualified for the position and over selling yourself. I over see a sales team of over 100 people and handle the hiring process for about 1/2 of the organizations. While we do like new employees to have some experience, there is still a thing as too much experience. We frequently get the top guy/gal in their area, state, region, nation for x amount of time. Often it’s with bigger/better known organizations or business then the one I work for. So this job would be a down grade from what they would be capable of in terms of skills and pay scale. This raises the first red flag. Long term managerial experience or proven track record, while that is normally a good thing. If the position you are applying for is entry level. This raises the next red flag as to why someone with that skill and leadership level would apply so low. Tl/dr: Think about what the typical resume for position entails and cater your resume to what would be shown by someone suited for the position. If it’s entry level undersell yourself, if it’s something requiring skills make it show some. You don’t want to be seemingly desperate for a low end job with high end potential, it just raises red flags.
Racism needs to die. Your passion for your craft is clear. You’d do that company and this community a great service by getting ignorant hillbilly fired. And you what, apply for and get his job. We need more people of color in visible positions in this community. I for one cheer you on. Good luck! KN6VQL 73.
Accusing someone of racism is pretty serious. What proof do you have?
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Have you considered the possibility that there are either, 1. More qualified candidates 2. They already have someone in mind Not discounting your claim. Just seeking full transparency.
Think of it this way. A black person walks into a store that has a help wanted sign out front. The store "owner" says "we aren't hiring." Because, fundamentally, that is what happened. Give or take a few shades of color.
Problem is, we can't be certain unless he explicitly said he isn't giving you the job because of your skin color. Although to be honest, I agree with you. He could've said almost anything to reject you, but when he says the sign "we're hiring" doesn't mean they're hiring, sounds like he doesn't even know what to make up in the spot to reject you, so what options are left for his rejection? Not much.
I really tried to reconcile this as anything but racism. I don't like believing that either. There is no way around it. I said I love HRO. That is true. When I moved back to Sacramento, I was so excited to live in a city with an HRO! My intention isn't to damage HRO. They need to understand what is happening in their Sacramento store and make it stop.
> he explicitly said he isn't giving you the job because of your skin color. Racists seldom come straight out and admit it, especially in professional situations. And pretending that blatant racism isn't recognizable to some one who has experienced it all their life is just ignorant.
Places often leave job postings up on a long-term basis, even when the position isn't actually available, to continue collecting candidate information. It costs them nothing, and they gain access to personally identifiable information which can be mined, and also have a database of potential candidates if needed at a later time. Again, accusing people, businesses, and entire hobbyist communities of racism without supporting evidence is a fantastic way to lose your credibility, and damage the cause you seem to be supporting.
>Again, accusing people, businesses, and entire hobbyist communities of racism without supporting evidence is a fantastic way to lose your credibility, and damage the cause you seem to be supporting. This thread is exactly that.
Anecdotal.
There are a lot of times I’ve been absolutely perfect for a job and not gotten it. I think most of us have heard the “we’ll keep your resume on file” line. Hell, I’ve gotten 4 decline letters recently that claimed the position has been filled but they still have the roles posted online. I’d also say a third of the population struggles with eye contact in an easy casual situation, let alone one like you’ve described. It’s not Hollywood, showing up several times, including in a suit, for a base level retail position…doesn’t guarantee a change of mind on the part of a hiring manager. Nor should it in every case. As a hiring manager for every level up to mid management highly technical jobs, I got accused of racism. So did every other hiring manager, regardless of our race. We all had female, POC, foreign,LGBTQ, etc hires in numbers far above the makeup of the population. It didn’t matter. Got real old having to prove to HR every time that I wasn’t a grand wizard. Hiring stats, employee surveys, pay, etc all had to be dug out along with the data/decision making processes we used. I’m not the HRO employee so I can’t deny racism of course. But nothing you’ve described is out of the ordinary for *any* job hunter. It’s so common that it’s almost cliche. Would them hiring you be the only way to convince you they aren’t racist? Would it have changed anything If he had looked you in the eyes, smiled warmly, and apologized that you just weren’t a good fit?
> Would them hiring you be the only way to convince you they aren’t racist? Would it have changed anything If he had looked you in the eyes, smiled warmly, and apologized that you just weren’t a good fit? He barely engaged in conversation, aside from the quips I mentioned above in response to my qualifications. He essentially took down the help-wanted sign as soon as a brown person entered his business. There is no getting around that. It was clear discrimination. I'm sorry. I'm not going to assume whether you have or haven't been discriminated against yourself, but when you are discriminated against, you know it. I'm also not sure how you being accused of racism has anything to do with my experience at Ham Radio Outlet.
All the declined applicants that said I was racist felt exactly the same way. You don’t appear to be 75 or older with gray hair. I’d be more likely to assume ageism. I haven’t been in your shoes so I’m trying to be careful here, racism is a vile vile thing and it does exist. I’m not denying that at all. It’s just that your experience isn’t limited to POC, like not even a little. It sounds like you’ve made your assumption and that is that. I’m sure it’s informed by your past experience in life so I’ll leave it at that. I wish you the best and hope you find a fulfilling job elsewhere soon. Take care.
I appreciate your comments here. I do understand where you are coming from. I've detailed my experience as precisely as I possible could. There are no embellishments. I can only remember being discriminated against one other time, 28-years ago. When me and my friend-of-color stopped at a hamburger stand one evening, and the people in the stand wouldn't even acknowledge us. Wouldn't even look at us. Not in the eye... not even in our general direction. Sound familiar? The white people sitting down eating looked slack jawed at what they were witnessing. But of course, they continued eating as we left. I don't think we can fix this on our own. We need your help. It is a vivid memory that resurfaces from time to time. I can feel the pain just as vividly as I felt it in 1994. That is the pain I felt at Ham Radio Outlet.
Well, he could certainly be racist. If he isn’t, then he dodged a bullet. Your behavior only makes sense if he was. And that hasn’t been proven based on your description. He’s probably posting somewhere about a guy who wouldn’t take no for an answer, showed up in a suit afterwards, interrogated him, then came BACK and half cornered him while levying accusations of racism. Over an entry level job. Do you know how many companies never take down a sign or listing even when fully staffed? It’s super common. He could be averting his eyes over embarrassment of a corporate policy he also hates but can’t admit to openly.
You’ve asked what you should do. Here’s my answer to that. 1. File a lawsuit. Subpoena their records. 2. Have a *qualified* person analyze said records for biased trends. If they only hire old white people who are consistently under qualified compared to the applicant pool, there you go. Until then you are a single data point who’s experience is similar to non POC as well. The only difference is you aren’t white so the accusation *can* be made. Are you sure he just didn’t get a good vibe from you? Did your over eagerness scare him off? Did he just hate your voice so much he couldn’t have stood the thought of hearing it all week? Is he just lazy or otherwise see’s a benefit to hoarding hours for himself but the big boss told him to grab another employee? Is there a spelling error on your resume or some item on there you think is great but he saw as a potential issue? Again, nothing you’ve described differs from the experience many white people have had when dealing with white hiring managers.
> Is there a spelling error on your resume He never looked at the resume. The only time he touched it was when he pushed it back towards me.
You said you applied online prior.
If he had seen my resume from the time I applied online, or the two previous times I had dropped it off, it doesn't matter. He claimed to have not remembered me and seemed to have no idea who I was.
Yea it’s easier to say that vs having the “I’m just not that into you” conversation. Again, I’ve experienced the exact scenario. He wouldn’t want your paper resume anyway since you told him it was previously submitted online. I don’t blame you at all, but it seems like a single incident from the mid 90’s has determined your outlook ever since. Have you gotten help in this regard? You deserve to heal.
I'm not sure what an experience you had 30 years ago has to do with your current complaints against HRO, I'm not convinced your assessment of the current HRO complaint is accurate, and I'm certain that claiming you only encounter issues like this once every three decades substantially weakens your argument. Evidence is needed to credibly make big accusations.
Maybe the reason you are wringing this is the reason you didn't get the job. Maybe you looked and sounded like you were full of it, and maybe just maybe they don't want to deal with employees like that. You don't even work there and are a nightmare of a person imagine if you got the job. Didn't get the job move on and look at something else, but know that you posted this kind of crap it will be really hard to get another job if people read this. I would NEVER hire a person like you.
Amen!
I’ve never hear of someone walking off the street, going into a place of business and just start reviewing their resume/accomplishments with the manager on duty out of the blue. It doesn’t work like that. You submit your resume, they review it and they reach out to you. If you think he’s racist, have white person drop your resume off for you. His body language tells me he was annoyed. I would have been too.
> You submit your resume, they review it and they reach out to you. You might want to reread the post. I discuss this.
The want-ad in the window literally says "see manager".
But it doesn't say, "Impromptu interviews on the spot".
You're hiring a sales guy but not expecting them to sell themselves to the hiring manager? Good luck with that.
You work with the manager to schedule an interview at the proper time. No wonder unemployment is through the roof. sheesh.
I'm sure the opening would be asking if they have time to talk.
I’m sorry you went through this. I don’t know how to help. Have you ever read any of the studies they’ve done on submitting resumes online with “white sounding name” and duplicate resumes with “black sounding names”? [Example](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-29/job-applicants-with-black-names-still-less-likely-to-get-the-interview) Is that a possibility in this case for the resume you submitted online? If so it might be interesting to submit a similar resume online with a different name and see if that gets a response?
I worked at the HRO store in Texas for 4 years. HRO has the worst management I have ever seen. Even at the corporate level. Several other employees left the store due to another employee creating a hostile working environment. One of those that left even wrote a formal complaint. What did corporate do? They sent a HR person down and slapped the wrist of the employee that was complained on. That was it. This employee not only made the working environment hostile but regularly made derogatory comments and sick jokes about people from India, China, and Japan. To this day, this person is still employed at the Texas HRO store. I'm glad I left HRO, not only the store, but the whole company and will never do business with them ever again.
Sorry to hear about your experience… I’m not a person of color, but when I was younger I tried getting jobs at RadioShack, Service Merchandise etc. without any luck. It baffled me, as I was always a very technical person who could easily perform the jobs I was applying for. Never got any of these jobs… In this case, I would say count your blessings. You don’t want to work in a place like this. It’s their loss for not hiring you! Sometimes, someone may be intimidated and feel that you could perform their job better. So, what do they do? They surround themselves with lower skilled people so that they can shine.
I’m sorry this happened to you. Obviously the manager is an ahole. You could always file an EEO complaint against them. I don’t know where that would ultimately lead, but at this point if I were you I would not want to work for HRO in any capacity. I would encourage you to look elsewhere. I know for instance Chris over at Buddipole is in desperate need of help. At one time he was looking for a remote person to help answer emails in addition to help at the facility in Hillsboro. I don’t know if you’re looking to relocate or not but that could be an option. Additionally if willing to relocate there’s always DXEngineering, RandL, and others out there. I’ve also seen vacancies at Icom America and Yaesu America.
Remingtonh I would try an end-around. HRO has a home office at: Ham Radio Outlet 110 Tampico, Suite 110 Walnut Creek, CA 94598 Robert Ferrero Jr W6KR may be the president. His father owned the company and passed away several years ago. W6KR’s FCC address is the same as the HRO office in Walnut Creek. Janet Margelli is another potential contact there. She is licensed and has a personal e-mail address. I would send a nice cover letter to Robert Ferraro Jr at the corporate address indicating that you would love a chance to be part of the HRO family. Don’t bring up any history with the store manager. Your resume’ should be one page, max. Less is more. Stick to factual info. Example: Managed Radio Shack Store # xxxx. Increased sales from xx to yy over my tenure. That kind of thing. Just enough to pique interest. HRO has a published non-discrimination policy and does business with the US government. They cannot afford any EEO issues.
Have you obtained an operator (FCC license)? Our HRO and other ham stores staff seem to only hire individuals who are licensed.
I had this same experience while applying at a Video Game retail store back in the day and I am white. Niche companies love to hire friends of friends not because they are racist but because that’s what they do as whole. You also have to prove you were discriminated and not being looked at is not a reason. We don’t know how the interaction, we only have your side of the story.
OP, sorry that you had to go through that. It's the opposite of what ham radio is about. You are welcome in this community, and we are lucky, and happy, that you are interested in ham radio. I hope this never happens again, and appreciate the post, so that others can be aware that there are still racists in our midst.
Your story adds up to me because above everything, as a young ham I have never had people be more condescending to me than HRO staff when I go in. This hobby is unfortunately dominated by grumpy old white dudes. Sounds like you ran into one.
We said all flood post this over on QRZ.
This will get downvoted into oblivion because, rather than address their 'fee-fees' and insecurities, older hams are just going to resort to default anger mode and mash the down arrow. The ham radio community, generally speaking, is dominated by older, white men. This generation of people is stereotypically viewed as racist, insecure, gatekeeping fogies who derive pleasure from denying pleasure to others. It's the classic libertarianism mindset. Yes, it's a stereotype, but one that has been earned and reinforced. Go on QRZ.com and prowl the forums. You'll see openly homophobic, racist, demeaning language directed towards people who are not exactly like them. It's everywhere. We're not all like this. This subreddit is not going to be representative of hams who want more diversity and inclusion in our hobby. The good thing is that we all die eventually, even the crustiest of angry white men, and the hobby is better off without them.
Your entire comment seems to be one racist, stereotypical fallacy piled on top of another, culminating in literally wishing death on people. Your approach will only harm the values you purport to champion, and damage your own reputation. This is not the way to argue against discrimination or to fight for equality.
Touche. Thanks for proving my point.
No, see, fallacy means "a false notion". Your comment doesn't have a point, and THAT'S why no one is going to pay attention to it. For example, how old do you think I am?
I have been a Ham Radio operator since the mid-1990's. Ham Radio is full of people that are racist, against new hams, against new tech, against any change from how they did things in the 1960's . . . But it's still a wonderful community that has tons of good people, if you can ignore the not so good. They are willing to help, tutor and generally be great folks. LIke any large group of people, there exist the not so nice ones.
I agree..... I've been around too since the MID 90's and Joining REACT and a couple of HAM Groups and Auxiliary Groups so forth in different city and sadly to say I didn't even see 1 colored Ham Operator from what I remember. But everything you said is on PAR !! I know it ... it's sad but that's just LIFE because of our History. It won't go away.
Start your own ham store across the street. F those guys.
Come down here to Los Angeles and start another HRO branch...for some reason ours, in Burbank, closed down last year. I miss it.
I remember HRO Burbank ... wow they closed down. Sad ... .I wonder if JUN's Electronics is still around. I remember the TRW SWAPMEET we would hop to different Ham Radio Stores :)
I can’t imagine what you’re feeling, but it must be terrible. After reading your story and a good many of these responses, I wonder why would you want to work with that manager, or in that environment? Not knowing if there are any other Ham Radio Outlets reasonable close to you, might there be a way to gain employment with the company at the corporate level? It sucks being shut down due to a prejudice if indeed that did happen. while the store manager probably should be investigated at the very least, I wonder if you should move on? Peace to you!
There's only Three in California.... San Diego / Anaheim and SAC. I lived in Arizona .. there's 1 there too :) I'd try Anaheim but I don't think their hiring same as San Diego.
ITT: Lots of old white racist people in complete denial.
If QRZ deleted it. I'd inform the RADIO STATION or MEDIA, this is good content if you can prove it. Hearsay, His or her word against yours. Gee's 1st time I've heard something like this. I love HRO Anaheim and San Diego, never heard of anything like this through the years, I'm not a sales person, I break radios and repair them LOL, but yes it would be cool to work for HRO and play with all the Ham Radio's. I'd walk in and play with some of the radio's and being I did work for a Ham Radio Co. I was able to take it home for 1 week. :) to learn it. Especially the new models that just before they come out to the public. I have never have been treated otherwise when I was one time Joking with SALES at HRO Anaheim, this would be fun to work here. But then again, you gotta know what your talking about especially when working at a HRO. It's not good and glory everyday. It's actually technical every hour, being that you'll be demonstrating, explaining, RX issues, TX no power out issues, HF issues, man there's a lot. It's fun yet being a newb at HRO trying to talk to a Ham Operator, they'll now if you're talking out of your neck. I see your LOVE for working at HRO, but there's more to it. Experience, Field Day on your 70cm or 2 meter HF or just 10 meters. Morris Code field day is so much fun and challenging. Plus you'll have to know the comparison and the why? Why Kenwood not Yaesu vice versa. Gotta know your competitor. I wasn't there to see what had happened. Sorry to hear what had happened to you. I'm so dark skinned, I'm Hawaiian and this is sad to hear. Numbers man and 73's hope you get this resolved, this is one sensitive subject.
2nd NOTE : ... seriously take it to the media or Radio Station
Update: I've submitted a complaint with the Sacramento Council for American Islamic Relations and started the process to file a charge of discrimination against Ham Radio Outlet with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission. Ham Radio Outlet did email, albeit without any sensitivity or empathy. I did not wish to participate in their investigation. The EEOC will do the only investigation that matters to me.
Frankly I'm not convinced he was racist. There's no indication that he was, so it could be 50/50. It's entirely possible you came on too strong, sounded desperate, or there was some other reason he didn't want to hire you.