Seeing how a candidate’s differences enhance them professionally

[joyuntochandr656]

Think about the people and experiences that you’ve learned from that have helped you with your work.

Maybe you were talking about a work problem and the person listening offered a perspective that you hadn’t considered before. You may have learned about a different industry or job that ended up being useful in your work months later. Maybe your most impactful innovation was inspired by something you saw or experienced that was unrelated to work at the time.

If your goal is to create a diverse workforce—particularly a workforce that thrives algeria phone number list on thought diversity to drive innovation—not making an effort to understand your candidates’ lives outside of work could be the biggest mistake you’re making.



I’m not suggesting that you should ask about their personal lives directly (that can feel intrusive and, depending on the question, may be risky to your organisation from a legal perspective) but you should be asking interview questions that open the opportunity for candidates to tell you about their personal experiences and networks.

These are a few questions you can use to better understand and relate to candidates on a personal level:

Do you have a mentor or someone in your life—this could either be personal or professional—that you look to for guidance or to share ideas with? [follow up on this question with: “Tell me about something you’ve learned from them”]
What interests you??
Tell me about a time when an experience outside of work helped you professionally?
The candidates you want to work for your organisation will have different experiences, different interests, and different lives.

The challenge is: how do you relate to a large number of people in a personal way without sounding inauthentic?



It’s painfully clear to spot the companies that are out of touch with their employees and candidates. You can see it in the language they use, the generalizations they make, the delicate way they approach candidates. Some Diversity hiring practices present to BAME and LGBT candidates as stereotypical, even bordering on the offensive in cases.

When it comes to building an organisation that thrives on diverse thinking, this line in Ms. Sandberg’s Facebook post really struck me.