As a black student moving to the States from Africa, many others and myself, were always made aware of the racial obstacles and challenges that lie ahead of us. I especially understood this within the STEM field. However, even though I was often the only black student in my electrical engineering classes, I never really felt disadvantaged in my academics. I was able to maintain an excellent standing with my GPA thanks to the help I got from both my professors and fellow classmates (even non-black). Hence I did not find any challenges that may have been a result of my race specifically in this area.
However, when it came to applying for internships and full-time jobs, I had a more difficult journey. As a matter of fact, this led to me being unable to acquire an internship throughout my 4 years at Tandon. Even though I felt like I was adequately qualified for most of the positions I applied for, I failed to even get interviews or first round intros. After this tough time, I started to think about the reasons why this may happen; and naturally and quite sadly, my skin color came to mind. I usually try to downplay these thoughts and just attribute my unsuccessfulness to bad luck or fate, but it’s not always easy. Later on, in my senior year, I went through the same thoughts and emotions while applying for full-time jobs. Obviously, non-people-of-color also go through a similar experience; but as a black student, you just never know. Especially when you know you have worked really hard to put yourself in a position to be successful and a competitive candidate. The never ending racial issues in our society also make it easier to attribute these certain things to racism. In the end, I was able to finally secure a full-time job five months after my graduation as an electrical engineer in a great company which I am proud to be a part of. Even though I cannot definitively say that the challenges I faced were because of my skin color, I certainly do not rule it out.”
Youssif Traore is an Electrical Engineer eager to apply his knowledge and expertise to launch a successful career with a company committed to innovation while offering opportunities for professional growth.
You can connect with Youssif here.