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Vote on Desiree Davidson's Story
Were they afraid we were planning a coup d'etat?
I spent my first summer during Columbia Law School at a firm in Philadelphia described as one of the best places in the city for black lawyers. I believed that if there was any place where I would have an equal chance at opportunities, be treated fairly and succeed, this would be it. There were three black female summer associates out of sixty that year but any time all three of us were in an office talking, one of the partners would knock on the door to see how we were doing. It happened too often to be a coincidence that sometimes we would purposely agree to meet in so-and-so's office to test our theory that we were being monitored. Like clock work, ten minutes after we would get together a partner would stop by.
We love you - why are you leaving?
- Workplace Unfairness
- Male
- Arab/Arab-American
- Banking - Retail
- Considering Leaving
- Advancement
- Company Response
- Flexibility
- Good Boss
- Mentors
- Positive Experience
- Tip
I've been very fortunate at my workplace. When I started, I had a very operational job. I was getting my MBA so I didn't care much. When I was almost done with my MBA, I got an offer from a strategic think tank and I was really happy about it. I went to my boss, I said, "Just to give you heads up, in three months I'm leaving. If you want to hire someone now, I'll have time to train them." That blew up in a way I wasn't expecting. My boss was upset that I was leaving. Two days later I got called into the Executive Vice President's office and she said, "You know what. We love you. Why are you leaving?" I said, "It's just better for my career." She said, "Why don't you go do informational interviews throughout the whole company? Find a job you like and we'll make it happen." She got me two informational interviews with the CEO and the COO. I talked to them and they referred me to other people and they created a mentorship program for me. I found an area I really liked, but the barrier was that I needed another 15 years of experiences. So they created a two-year fast track program for me. We now have five other people in the same program.