I came across a few rants about “Clay Shirky’s rant about women” . He needs more women to say “I can do that. Sign me up. My work is awesome,” even if they have no experience in that work.
I will not go into the correctness or morality of that assertion, a lot of discussion has already taken place on that.

I want to touch upon a different slant of the same paradigm. When I came to study in the US, the first thing I realized was that we South Asians lack the skill of self-assertion. I used to joke with my American friends that once you touch an airplane, you can claim to be from the aerospace industry ! While us South Asians would even cast doubts on our hard skills, even if we had had them for years.

Looking at it from a recruiter’s perspective: they are faced by an information asymmetry of the bad lemon form. A typical resume/interviewee is expected to amp-up his/her achievements. So most of the stuff an interviewee puts out there would be given a hair-cut, by a certain BS factor, which might vary by interviewer. This puts someone who is shy by nature in a bad spot. This is one of the reasons, I believe, that you find a lot of South Asians in finance & operations careers after their MBA. Its easier to showcase quantifiable skills. We feel more secure in tangible territory.

My solution to this problem. Truth be told-
- lets get out of our comfort zone: Even if it is culturally unacceptable to go out there and sell ourselves, we have to find our own ways of doing it. If “I” have taken the decision to move to the US , I have to get used to use the word “I” more in a week than I would use it in a year back home.
- Be Findable : Its inevitable that people who are more google search friendly have a better chance of getting the phone call from Steve Jobs . But that does not mean we put out laundry lists of our work history everywhere. Tell a story that people want to hear. Dont spin , but know the right side of the coin to present .