I agree with your point of view. Yes, I don’t doubt that there is unfortunately bigotry in this as in any other business, and while I wish there wasn’t, it doesn’t make it go away.

That said, my experience in hiring on the account management side has been similar to yours. You judge an applicant by the history on their CV, then meet with those who seem to have it most together. Sadly, I’ve not had the opportunity to interview many minority applicants in my 12-year tenure, but have always chosen the best-qualified applicants regardless of the color of their skin. I can account for one time where I’ve had to make a close choice among applicants of like qualifications and chemistry, and varying ethnicity, and I’d been happy to opt for the candidate that brought a diverse perspective to my team in that case.

Is it any one agency’s fault that the talent pool for minority applicants seems so small? Certainly not. Could the indutry as a whole benefit from the influence of more diversity in the business? Absolutely. The approach that Omnicom seems to be taking in making a college-level investment in attracting talent would seem a better approach than arbitrary quotas, which disrespect the best workers of all ethnicities.

-Brian Avenius
Business Director
Brand Architecture International