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Hiring Diversity
By Graciela Kenig — © 2007-2008
 
Are you getting the resumes you need from Hispanics/Latinos, Asians, African-Americans or women? 

Do you eliminate the majority of your diverse candidates at the phone screening stage?

Are your diverse candidates weaker at the interview than their resumes would suggest? 

Do they provide you with the information you need to make the hiring decision?

Do you have trouble eliciting specific accomplishments or examples of past behavior applicable to your position?

Many recruiters, HR Professionals and hiring managers are frustrated because they cannot find qualified multicultural candidates.  Some conclude they just don't exist.  But this usually is not the case. 


Qualified candidates are available but typical hiring strategies may not attract them. Such strategies do not take cultural nuances into account and, therefore, often inadvertently screen out good candidates. 


Here are a few key questions to ask as you review your strategies to make sure they are effective in reaching multicultural populations:

• Are your interview questions designed to draw out accomplishments from candidates whose culture values modesty?
• When interviewing candidates whose culture values relationships, community and family, do you encourage them to give examples of strengths from their personal life as well as their work life?
• In screening resumes, do you read "between the lines", understanding that a candidate from a culture that values the group over the individual may have trouble articulating individual accomplishments? 
• If you feel a candidate is distant or uninterested in the interview because he/she only gives one word answers, do you ask probing questions or rephrase the questions to get more information? (If the candidate is from a culture that demands respect of authority figures, the person may be answering briefly to be careful not to offend.)

Adapting your hiring strategies to respond to cultural values can help you identify talent that might otherwise be overlooked.