Diverse Applicants and Interviewers are Sometimes Like Two Ships Passing in the Night
There are many qualified diverse applicants in the job market for the available jobs, but some are being overlooked in the job interview process. One problem is that interviewers do not always know how to get the information they need from the applicant within their paradigm of interviewing.
I've talked with many people of diverse backgrounds about cultural misunderstandings in job interviews. In talking with a Mexican-American Marketing Manager, we were discussing the job qualification of strong leadership skills. This is how he has seen this scenario play out in an interview:
"The organization wants someone who can lead people to get the job done on time and do it well. The style of leadership within this organization is very task-oriented. They interview an applicant from a culture where the style is more people-oriented. The interviewer has difficulty seeing the true potential of this applicant, even though the applicant has excellent leadership skills and a proven track record of getting jobs done."
The reason could be that in the interview the applicant does not talk about individual steps or tasks that he accomplished to get the job done. Instead, this applicant talks more about building relationships among team members who are working toward a common goal. From the applicant's response, the interviewer may assess that the applicant is not a fit for the position, because he did not give the expected or 'right' responses to the interviewer's questions.
To sum up our discussion, this Marketing Manager stated, "I think there are a lot of good applicants out there and a lot of good potential employers who just miss each other, like two ships passing in the night, because they just couldn't see where the other person was going. That is unfortunate."
This is just one example of how an interviewer's lack of cross-cultural competencies can cause a good applicant to be lost. Effective leadership skills, as well as other job skills, exist in every culture. People sometimes just use a different approach to achieve the same results.
If a diverse applicant can help achieve the goals of your organization, and you are open to diversity in styles and approaches, you may find an employee who can help you achieve your goals in a new way, perhaps an even better way, and help your organization be successful in other areas as well.
Interviewers need to sharpen their interviewing skills and create a new paradigm for job interviewing that will fit a broader and more diverse applicant pool. Let's put spotlights on our ships and start seeing the true potential of what is out there.
— Copyright © 1998, Lila Kelly Associates. Diversity and Hiring Strategies - Since 1992. Published in the Human Resource Professionals of Minnesota newsletter. For more information, see www.lilakelly.com, or contact Lila at lila@lilakelly.com or 651-983-4489. Not for duplication without permission.