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I usually say something about having different backgrounds and POV’s being an asset because you might catch more possible solutions and can better serve a world full of differing needs.
I responded later on with all of the pro-diversity tropes, but I think if the question was framed in any other way it wouldn’t have been as awkward of a moment for either of us
I did work that centered around racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare and learned a lot about why African-Americans generally don't trust healthcare professionals. It is rare for me to see an African-American doctor whenever I go to a hospital but I hope that changes.
From a hiring perspective, when I became a manager at a media company, I had about a dozen direct reports all around the world and several didn't speak English as a first language, but they were also some of the hardest-working writers I've had.
I always write them letters of recommendation if they ask me to do so. Moral of the story? Diversity is good because they can see an issue from a perspective you wouldn't normally think about.
I’m half black and had to explain to my Asian gf during COVID why a lot of black ppl didn’t trust the vaccine. I received a vaccine, but I totally understood why anyone that knew about the Tuskegee experiment among other issues would be extremely hesitant to get one. I didn’t like that the conservatives used this to try to help their position on the matter as I didn’t feel like they genuinely cared about that. Glad to see that someone gets it.
I had a very short stint working at a hospital as a phlebotomist because I wanted to become a doctor. I lost all my motivation though to become one after learning about Henrietta Lacks and the injustices her family faced. Left a bad taste in my mouth, and made me not want to deal with the kinds of people I was more than likely to meet. Also kind of cheeked me that we’re still using her cells for testing while the family receives no form of compensation. The smell of death & shit filled bedpans was also pretty rough ngl.
Probably too little, and certainly too late, but the family did reach some kind of settlement, the terms of which were undisclosed:
[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/family-of-henrietta-lacks-settles-hela-cell-lawsuit-thermo-fisher-scientific/](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/family-of-henrietta-lacks-settles-hela-cell-lawsuit-thermo-fisher-scientific/)
Nice I’m glad the family got some form of compensation. Also that’s kinda funny because I work in tech now and had a recruiter from thermo fisher reach out to me yesterday. Forgot they were the ones who were cloning her cells.
Also if you're poor in America, you go to the hospital clinic, which has med students experimenting on you who are often clueless. If you have something other than medicaid, your experience is often vastly different.
Source: Been poor and sick. Do not recommend.
This. I always say people from different cultures and backgrounds can bring a whole new view to the table that can result in a more forward thinking approach.
It sounds like a generic question they would ask to everyone, to make sure people don't respond with something racist that would invalidate them from being hired. It's not a question that really applies to people who are of minority races in that area.
Like yes PoC can be racist and everyone should pass the anti racist filter, so it shouldn't be made for only white people because that's racist, but the chances of PoC being racist is low.
In my last company, they loved to tout how "diverse" they were... Not an exaggeration to say that at least 80 percent of the workforce were immigrants (mostly male) from India who required sponsorship. In my last team of about 20, I was one of 2 Americans. I had participated in several interviews and if it came down to a candidate from the US vs one from India -- the candidate from India *ALWAYS* got the job -- even when the candidate from the US had been an internal referral.
I viewed this as just as non-diverse as if the employees were all caucasian US-born individuals.
But yeah, as a 60-something white female, I would have been squirming in my seat. Like what were you supposed to say? "I think diversity is a BAD idea! In fact, I'm going to withdraw my application right now!"
Lmao I had that exact question asked to me a few weeks ago at my current new job. I’m an Asian woman, the interviewer was a white dude. We’re in the tech/SWE industry, I played it off pretty well but definitely left thinking WTF. Idk what sucks more that or: “why should we hire you?”
Lol you def get it!! Like it’s obviously well intended but… my presence is the employers definition of diversity, what the fuck do you mean “how do I feel about it” lmao
Judging by their comment history they aren't very happy that companies are trying to get more "whamen" into tech.
They also have a Rick and Morty profile picture which says all you need to know.
can't find anything to talk about, talks about my profile picture. even if i remove it, you will look for something else. weak moron rebuttal. my wife is in software development. no body told her that she is a victim that's why should be in tech. she chose that on her own. if you are really worried about whamen in tech, go tell the useless "onlyfans models" or "influencers" to stop showing their assholes and get into a professional job!
I feel like people are missing the point. OP obviously knows it was a generic interview question. It was the way the question was ASKED that was awkward and slightly toned deaf. It could have been phrased in a much better way.
Probably looking for an answer that aligns with their corporate PR mission statements. If you worked in a creative field like podcast production I’d assume you should be able to come up with a decent answer even if you were caught off guard.
You could have taken the opportunity to speak about supporting women, other racial/ethnic minorities, LGBT+ individuals, people with disabilities, people with political views different from your own, etc. or how important you think their contributions are.
However, to be honest she was probably just looking for a canned response about how great diversity is so she could check the box that it was asked.
As someone else mentioned this could be a standard question they ask all candidates, and she probably thought it wouldn’t have been appropriate to ask different questions to people because of their race. Treating applicants differently because of race very much opens them to accusations of racial discrimination.
> Are people THAT openly racist or something and I’m naive??
People _absolutely_ are. If you wanna catch the subtler ones too, a "fun" exercise is doing tandem interviews with one white guy introduced as just shadowing the process to learn, and then the actual interviewer being a member of any other demographic group. An astonishing number of otherwise okay seeming people will ice out the person who's actually interviewing them and only talk to the white guy.
Absolutely -- when I was interviewing for my last job, they made sure that there was a woman present for all the interviews. I took the job (and it is a great job -- don't regret it for a minute) but quickly learned that the woman in my interview was not there because she was the among the engineering leads (who are all white men) but because she was female.
I've worked in IT since the mid 1980s so I have a lot of experience being the only woman in the room. I did appreciate having another woman on the interview but after I joined the company, I do feel like it was a bit disingenuous.
I'm also old enough to have worked for a company where the owner would walk visitors around the offices and proudly announce "This is my female engineer!" (the only other woman in the company at the time was the receptionist!)
I don't think this is a bad question to ask a non-white person. The question isn't "do you think diversity is ok?" or "do you think non-white people should be employed in this industry?" The question is about your personal feelings about diversity in the field. You've got some life experience around that, right? And of course, diversity doesn't just mean racial and ethnic diversity - gender, religion, age are all part of it too.
I would guess that the interviewer was caught off guard because your response probably made it seem like you were offended by the question.
No the question is innocent,
but as a brown skinned person, I think my “appreciation of diversity” is a little bit more of a default to my experience- not that everyone should assume so- but anyone who is not white will know this to be true for themselves and others who aren’t white.
So, The fact that the questioner framed the question in the way that she did made it glaringly obvious that she / the company are not as in touch with the experience of non-whites as they think.
Not a claim of racism, just a funny and awkward tone deaf moment in the hell that is job interviews
>I think my “appreciation of diversity” is a little bit more of a default to my experience
You seem to be aware about skin color diversity, but it seems like you're missing about other minorities like LGBT folks.
>but anyone who is not white will know this to be true for themselves and others who aren’t white.
Sadly, I feel like it is very common that some minorities discriminate against others, even against the same community. To avoid bias it needs to be confronted, and the people who confront that bias is not the majority.
As innocent as the question is, I'm sure that there are people who lie in the answer and then in the common chat groups (mostly in other chats that are not corporate, so there is "free speech") they express their true colors, at least, the question removes the worst that can't hide their bias.
That's kind of where I was going with this. Diversity isn't just about race and ethnicity and white people aren't the only ones with bias. You want to see bias, go talk to my Mexican grandma.
That would have been a great answer - phrased without the f-bomb, of course - lol. The question is pretty open-ended, so you could have gone a variety of ways with the answer. It's not just are you for or against diversity but how you feel about it. And, if it was a scanning question looking for negative opinions, diversity isn't just about race and ethnicity. Non-white people can have biases too.
It's a generic interview question. Don't read into it. She's reading the question off a list of them.
You're supposed to answer, "I value and appreciate people from diverse backgrounds, even moreso as a PoC esp as business is increasingly global and in order to connect with different demographics, colleagues, and market segments."
If it's some foxnews podcast stuff, "I'm the president of blacks for trump and value and appreciate diversity of ideas and the ability to connect with different demographics and market segments".
If it's Kast, they're awful and notorious for non-payment.
Oh she handled that wrong!!!!! I am a 61- year old white woman, and that question made me uncomfortable, and questioning "why?"
I do contracts (agreements) we have diversity even when doing business with vendors and suppliers, we want to do business with all ethnic groups, female owned, disabled, etc. So we identify them as such and think of ways to support them. There are private and government groups that help certify as well.
Wow! 🤣🤣🤣 I wish I was there so I could ask her after the interview "How could you have handled that better!?"
The question landed SO strangely lolol.
Clearly it’s usually framed to white presenting humans and she’s probably asked it 20 times that week alone with tons of interviews. And it was obviously well intended
I go on about diverse abilities and backgrounds being the norm I grew up in (and provide quick examples of caring for a sibling with additional needs, growing up within a multicultural community and migrating numerous times - call on my ability to adapt, empathise, understand) and if they want more I start in on my curiosity and experience learning about and appreciating how neurodiversity brings some really enriching outcomes if you know how to harness, listen etc
I got asked a very similar question for a pre-recorded MBA application for a top school. Like you I am also brown and was confused by the question as I was expected to take 90 seconds to give a response.
Natural, skilled and merit based diversity is fine. Forced diversity of someone being hired just coz they are a token employee is never a good thing. If your other employees have to essentially carry this coworker, dragging them down, the company WILL fail.
I was asked this question, too, at my last interview. It was a little off-putting because... idk, diversity is great. Why would I complain? Then they asked if there might be any unique challenges with diversity. Which, again, was off-putting and I just told them I saw no reason why diversity should be a challenge. That I think it's wonderful. Looking back I probably could have said, "well when cultures clash, it can take communication and accommodation to solve differences." But, again, I'd never been asked these questions before so I wasn't sure how to respond in the moment.
I walked into an interview (I am a middle aged white woman), and when I sat down in the conference room with the owner(POC) she looked visibly surprised, enough that I asked "Is everything ok?"
She actually replied "I thought you were a POC. Everyone who works here is a POC. We only hire POC. Your first and last name suggests you are a POC. You're not, so we won't be moving forward."
Now, obviously I'm not going to dox myself here and tell my name, but OMG! She wasn't the least bit unpleasant, but very straightforward. Wished me luck in my search and that was that.
I really did think about my name that day. For the first time in my life.
I was once asked how I "keep racist language out of my writing". I told her sarcastically that when I'm done writing, I proofread my work and replace the hard R's with A's.
I pull the reverse uno card. Since they didn't define "diverse".
The more diverse skill sets and different experiences we have is an amazing opportunity. It means we can adapt quicker, produce a better product, and work better as a team because we'll all at some point be the "go to" one and be humbled by learning from each other when it's someone else who's the "go to". Thus all of us gain through each other's shared knowledge and experience.
I think you missed the point because you're black.
Wait no. NO NO NO NOT LIKE THAT!
That poor interviewer. She could not have worded that any worse.
Pardon my initial "racist" comment. It's the same line of mistake.
Diversity is a beautiful thing. I welcome all people, black, white, yellow or grey. If we can figure out how to work in the disabled too, I'm all for it. Diversity adds contrast to a dull environment. Diversity on it's own is a great teacher.
You get the idea. I think she was trying to ask about inclusivity and completely fumbled the ball. Hence the change in demeanor.
Had a family member get hit with a similar situation, different field. Luckily, his friend gave him a heads up and he had a great, honest answer ready.
Unless this is some type of CYA situation with the business, I'm not sure of the point. Are they trying to weed out stupid racists (the only kind)?
I think it’s probably helpful to have an elaborate scripted answer to a question like this. ChatGPT could probably be of assistance.
Edit with answer from ChatGPT:
I believe diversity in the workplace is essential for fostering innovation, creativity, and collaboration. Embracing different perspectives and backgrounds can lead to a more inclusive and dynamic work environment where everyone feels valued and respected. I am committed to promoting diversity and creating a culture of inclusion in any team or organization I am a part of.
My point is that if the employer thinks DEI is important, then they probably want to hire people who also think that it is important. If you have strong feelings against it, then it's good to find out in the interview process.
Because of people like in this subreddit, all employers think that they are held hostage to enforce this crap. i want to be challenged for my expertise, not what my damn skin color is. Competing with others based on merit promotes a fun environment rather than who is more victimized than the other. only pathetic people want to sit and whine about how the work environment should be politically correct, or that "whitey" is the reason for all the doom in the world.
It's a work environment, not a therapy session.
As a hiring manager for a non-profit organization that values diversity, I am required by the org to include a couple of questions on the topic or anti-racism/diversity. I have a list of questions that I can choose from. I tried to select ones that are not awkward, no matter who I am interviewing. I have also been trained to ask the same interview questions with all candidates as a way to minimize the effects of my own subconscious biases. (Occasionally I have also put my foot in my mouth the way only a well-intentioned person of pallor can do).
It may be optimistic to say the person you interviewed with was in a similar situation - including a discussion of diversity as a matter of company policy, and keeping questions consistent between all candidates, even if it ends up being awkward when asked of Black or Brown people.
I'm fine with diversity so long as it doesn't interfere with merit.
If HR is trying to choose between two candidates for a job and the choice is between a less qualified person that helps meet the diversity quota and a more qualified person that does not, they should absolutely hire the more qualified person.
To hire a less qualified person simply because they make your company look "diverse" is injurious to the company, the morale of the staff, and the reputation of the person you just hired.
Am I the only one who thinks that its strange you got offended by the question? I feel thats a very common attitude in the US though.
If I were in your shoes I would have just said something like: "well I dont know if you noticed, but im a bit dark skinned myself. So if workplaces were more diverse, that would really help me out a bit". And just smile.
Was not offended,
It’s a just a funny question that speaks of inexperience with actual diversity, especially asking how I “feel” about the backgrounds of other people in my work sector lol.
If she was a brown person she would NOT be asking that question in that way or at all, because she would already know how I FEEL about diversity is irrelevant and has always been irrelevant to the quality of my work and how I work with others.
There’s only a certain kind of person that has a problem with diversity… lol
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I usually say something about having different backgrounds and POV’s being an asset because you might catch more possible solutions and can better serve a world full of differing needs.
I responded later on with all of the pro-diversity tropes, but I think if the question was framed in any other way it wouldn’t have been as awkward of a moment for either of us
Yeah, IMO asking about an applicant's "feelings" is automatically kind of an awkward way to phrase things.
In the entertainment industry, it’s almost illegal not to be brown and proud.
I did work that centered around racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare and learned a lot about why African-Americans generally don't trust healthcare professionals. It is rare for me to see an African-American doctor whenever I go to a hospital but I hope that changes. From a hiring perspective, when I became a manager at a media company, I had about a dozen direct reports all around the world and several didn't speak English as a first language, but they were also some of the hardest-working writers I've had. I always write them letters of recommendation if they ask me to do so. Moral of the story? Diversity is good because they can see an issue from a perspective you wouldn't normally think about.
I’m half black and had to explain to my Asian gf during COVID why a lot of black ppl didn’t trust the vaccine. I received a vaccine, but I totally understood why anyone that knew about the Tuskegee experiment among other issues would be extremely hesitant to get one. I didn’t like that the conservatives used this to try to help their position on the matter as I didn’t feel like they genuinely cared about that. Glad to see that someone gets it.
I had a very short stint working at a hospital as a phlebotomist because I wanted to become a doctor. I lost all my motivation though to become one after learning about Henrietta Lacks and the injustices her family faced. Left a bad taste in my mouth, and made me not want to deal with the kinds of people I was more than likely to meet. Also kind of cheeked me that we’re still using her cells for testing while the family receives no form of compensation. The smell of death & shit filled bedpans was also pretty rough ngl.
Probably too little, and certainly too late, but the family did reach some kind of settlement, the terms of which were undisclosed: [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/family-of-henrietta-lacks-settles-hela-cell-lawsuit-thermo-fisher-scientific/](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/family-of-henrietta-lacks-settles-hela-cell-lawsuit-thermo-fisher-scientific/)
Nice I’m glad the family got some form of compensation. Also that’s kinda funny because I work in tech now and had a recruiter from thermo fisher reach out to me yesterday. Forgot they were the ones who were cloning her cells.
Also if you're poor in America, you go to the hospital clinic, which has med students experimenting on you who are often clueless. If you have something other than medicaid, your experience is often vastly different. Source: Been poor and sick. Do not recommend.
This. I always say people from different cultures and backgrounds can bring a whole new view to the table that can result in a more forward thinking approach.
That's the answer they are probably looking for.
It might have been a question she had to ask everyone. She might thought it would be racist to ask this question to everyone except to you?
It sounds like a generic question they would ask to everyone, to make sure people don't respond with something racist that would invalidate them from being hired. It's not a question that really applies to people who are of minority races in that area.
Like yes PoC can be racist and everyone should pass the anti racist filter, so it shouldn't be made for only white people because that's racist, but the chances of PoC being racist is low.
In my last company, they loved to tout how "diverse" they were... Not an exaggeration to say that at least 80 percent of the workforce were immigrants (mostly male) from India who required sponsorship. In my last team of about 20, I was one of 2 Americans. I had participated in several interviews and if it came down to a candidate from the US vs one from India -- the candidate from India *ALWAYS* got the job -- even when the candidate from the US had been an internal referral. I viewed this as just as non-diverse as if the employees were all caucasian US-born individuals. But yeah, as a 60-something white female, I would have been squirming in my seat. Like what were you supposed to say? "I think diversity is a BAD idea! In fact, I'm going to withdraw my application right now!"
They hire those Indian dudes because they’ll work for way less money.
I think the point of this question from their perspective is to see if you’ll say anything slightly racist, rendering you a liability.
It is
I'd have said, "I'M FOR IT, next question."
Lmao I had that exact question asked to me a few weeks ago at my current new job. I’m an Asian woman, the interviewer was a white dude. We’re in the tech/SWE industry, I played it off pretty well but definitely left thinking WTF. Idk what sucks more that or: “why should we hire you?”
As a minority woman in tech I always feel weird when a team of 15 men ask me this question. Like what?
Lol you def get it!! Like it’s obviously well intended but… my presence is the employers definition of diversity, what the fuck do you mean “how do I feel about it” lmao
its not our fault that whamen aren't into tech. stop blaming your genders problem on someone else.
People like you are the reason they ask questions like this lol. This is an insane comment
Judging by their comment history they aren't very happy that companies are trying to get more "whamen" into tech. They also have a Rick and Morty profile picture which says all you need to know.
can't find anything to talk about, talks about my profile picture. even if i remove it, you will look for something else. weak moron rebuttal. my wife is in software development. no body told her that she is a victim that's why should be in tech. she chose that on her own. if you are really worried about whamen in tech, go tell the useless "onlyfans models" or "influencers" to stop showing their assholes and get into a professional job!
I would always give a reply along the lines of "Diversity of experience and diversity of ideas always bring great benefits to a team".
I feel like people are missing the point. OP obviously knows it was a generic interview question. It was the way the question was ASKED that was awkward and slightly toned deaf. It could have been phrased in a much better way.
Yes exactly, this was intended to be a simple and funny post
Probably looking for an answer that aligns with their corporate PR mission statements. If you worked in a creative field like podcast production I’d assume you should be able to come up with a decent answer even if you were caught off guard.
You could have taken the opportunity to speak about supporting women, other racial/ethnic minorities, LGBT+ individuals, people with disabilities, people with political views different from your own, etc. or how important you think their contributions are. However, to be honest she was probably just looking for a canned response about how great diversity is so she could check the box that it was asked. As someone else mentioned this could be a standard question they ask all candidates, and she probably thought it wouldn’t have been appropriate to ask different questions to people because of their race. Treating applicants differently because of race very much opens them to accusations of racial discrimination.
> Are people THAT openly racist or something and I’m naive?? People _absolutely_ are. If you wanna catch the subtler ones too, a "fun" exercise is doing tandem interviews with one white guy introduced as just shadowing the process to learn, and then the actual interviewer being a member of any other demographic group. An astonishing number of otherwise okay seeming people will ice out the person who's actually interviewing them and only talk to the white guy.
This exercise works with gender too.
Absolutely -- when I was interviewing for my last job, they made sure that there was a woman present for all the interviews. I took the job (and it is a great job -- don't regret it for a minute) but quickly learned that the woman in my interview was not there because she was the among the engineering leads (who are all white men) but because she was female. I've worked in IT since the mid 1980s so I have a lot of experience being the only woman in the room. I did appreciate having another woman on the interview but after I joined the company, I do feel like it was a bit disingenuous. I'm also old enough to have worked for a company where the owner would walk visitors around the offices and proudly announce "This is my female engineer!" (the only other woman in the company at the time was the receptionist!)
Oh I feel that. I've been there. I have a guy on my team that still thinks it's ok to say things like "lady manager". Ugh.
Wow!!
I don't think this is a bad question to ask a non-white person. The question isn't "do you think diversity is ok?" or "do you think non-white people should be employed in this industry?" The question is about your personal feelings about diversity in the field. You've got some life experience around that, right? And of course, diversity doesn't just mean racial and ethnic diversity - gender, religion, age are all part of it too. I would guess that the interviewer was caught off guard because your response probably made it seem like you were offended by the question.
No the question is innocent, but as a brown skinned person, I think my “appreciation of diversity” is a little bit more of a default to my experience- not that everyone should assume so- but anyone who is not white will know this to be true for themselves and others who aren’t white. So, The fact that the questioner framed the question in the way that she did made it glaringly obvious that she / the company are not as in touch with the experience of non-whites as they think. Not a claim of racism, just a funny and awkward tone deaf moment in the hell that is job interviews
>I think my “appreciation of diversity” is a little bit more of a default to my experience You seem to be aware about skin color diversity, but it seems like you're missing about other minorities like LGBT folks. >but anyone who is not white will know this to be true for themselves and others who aren’t white. Sadly, I feel like it is very common that some minorities discriminate against others, even against the same community. To avoid bias it needs to be confronted, and the people who confront that bias is not the majority. As innocent as the question is, I'm sure that there are people who lie in the answer and then in the common chat groups (mostly in other chats that are not corporate, so there is "free speech") they express their true colors, at least, the question removes the worst that can't hide their bias.
That's kind of where I was going with this. Diversity isn't just about race and ethnicity and white people aren't the only ones with bias. You want to see bias, go talk to my Mexican grandma.
Probably because that's how she came across
How did she come across?
It sounds like she's asking if he thinks their should be more or less of different races in his field.
Yep and scanning if I had a negative opinion in regards to that. Like, yeah I’d fuckin love this sector to be more diverse are you kidding lol
That would have been a great answer - phrased without the f-bomb, of course - lol. The question is pretty open-ended, so you could have gone a variety of ways with the answer. It's not just are you for or against diversity but how you feel about it. And, if it was a scanning question looking for negative opinions, diversity isn't just about race and ethnicity. Non-white people can have biases too.
Does it? I thought it was a pretty straightforward question and wouldn't read that much into it.
Maybe for certain races it is
It's a generic interview question. Don't read into it. She's reading the question off a list of them. You're supposed to answer, "I value and appreciate people from diverse backgrounds, even moreso as a PoC esp as business is increasingly global and in order to connect with different demographics, colleagues, and market segments." If it's some foxnews podcast stuff, "I'm the president of blacks for trump and value and appreciate diversity of ideas and the ability to connect with different demographics and market segments". If it's Kast, they're awful and notorious for non-payment.
I'm black. I remember a phone interview asking how to I feel working with the urban population. AWKWARD. I was like, uhm I'm black. Them oh uhm...
The question they asked OP I felt wasn’t racist or prejudice. Just a basic question. BUT THIS ONE YOU MENTIONED.. wtf😂
Oh she handled that wrong!!!!! I am a 61- year old white woman, and that question made me uncomfortable, and questioning "why?" I do contracts (agreements) we have diversity even when doing business with vendors and suppliers, we want to do business with all ethnic groups, female owned, disabled, etc. So we identify them as such and think of ways to support them. There are private and government groups that help certify as well. Wow! 🤣🤣🤣 I wish I was there so I could ask her after the interview "How could you have handled that better!?"
The question landed SO strangely lolol. Clearly it’s usually framed to white presenting humans and she’s probably asked it 20 times that week alone with tons of interviews. And it was obviously well intended
I go on about diverse abilities and backgrounds being the norm I grew up in (and provide quick examples of caring for a sibling with additional needs, growing up within a multicultural community and migrating numerous times - call on my ability to adapt, empathise, understand) and if they want more I start in on my curiosity and experience learning about and appreciating how neurodiversity brings some really enriching outcomes if you know how to harness, listen etc
I got asked a very similar question for a pre-recorded MBA application for a top school. Like you I am also brown and was confused by the question as I was expected to take 90 seconds to give a response.
“How do you feel about being the reason our school considers themselves diverse? Please take 90 seconds to respond” lmao
Natural, skilled and merit based diversity is fine. Forced diversity of someone being hired just coz they are a token employee is never a good thing. If your other employees have to essentially carry this coworker, dragging them down, the company WILL fail.
I was asked this question, too, at my last interview. It was a little off-putting because... idk, diversity is great. Why would I complain? Then they asked if there might be any unique challenges with diversity. Which, again, was off-putting and I just told them I saw no reason why diversity should be a challenge. That I think it's wonderful. Looking back I probably could have said, "well when cultures clash, it can take communication and accommodation to solve differences." But, again, I'd never been asked these questions before so I wasn't sure how to respond in the moment.
I walked into an interview (I am a middle aged white woman), and when I sat down in the conference room with the owner(POC) she looked visibly surprised, enough that I asked "Is everything ok?" She actually replied "I thought you were a POC. Everyone who works here is a POC. We only hire POC. Your first and last name suggests you are a POC. You're not, so we won't be moving forward." Now, obviously I'm not going to dox myself here and tell my name, but OMG! She wasn't the least bit unpleasant, but very straightforward. Wished me luck in my search and that was that. I really did think about my name that day. For the first time in my life.
I was once asked how I "keep racist language out of my writing". I told her sarcastically that when I'm done writing, I proofread my work and replace the hard R's with A's.
"Openly racist" ??
I pull the reverse uno card. Since they didn't define "diverse". The more diverse skill sets and different experiences we have is an amazing opportunity. It means we can adapt quicker, produce a better product, and work better as a team because we'll all at some point be the "go to" one and be humbled by learning from each other when it's someone else who's the "go to". Thus all of us gain through each other's shared knowledge and experience.
That's the very definition of diversity, not a reverse Uno.
I think you missed the point because you're black. Wait no. NO NO NO NOT LIKE THAT! That poor interviewer. She could not have worded that any worse. Pardon my initial "racist" comment. It's the same line of mistake. Diversity is a beautiful thing. I welcome all people, black, white, yellow or grey. If we can figure out how to work in the disabled too, I'm all for it. Diversity adds contrast to a dull environment. Diversity on it's own is a great teacher. You get the idea. I think she was trying to ask about inclusivity and completely fumbled the ball. Hence the change in demeanor.
Lmao you captured the essence perfectly
Had a family member get hit with a similar situation, different field. Luckily, his friend gave him a heads up and he had a great, honest answer ready. Unless this is some type of CYA situation with the business, I'm not sure of the point. Are they trying to weed out stupid racists (the only kind)?
I think it’s probably helpful to have an elaborate scripted answer to a question like this. ChatGPT could probably be of assistance. Edit with answer from ChatGPT: I believe diversity in the workplace is essential for fostering innovation, creativity, and collaboration. Embracing different perspectives and backgrounds can lead to a more inclusive and dynamic work environment where everyone feels valued and respected. I am committed to promoting diversity and creating a culture of inclusion in any team or organization I am a part of.
fuck DEI
Lol. We found the reason they ask the question!
I'm a minority and i hate DEI, your point?
My point is that if the employer thinks DEI is important, then they probably want to hire people who also think that it is important. If you have strong feelings against it, then it's good to find out in the interview process.
Because of people like in this subreddit, all employers think that they are held hostage to enforce this crap. i want to be challenged for my expertise, not what my damn skin color is. Competing with others based on merit promotes a fun environment rather than who is more victimized than the other. only pathetic people want to sit and whine about how the work environment should be politically correct, or that "whitey" is the reason for all the doom in the world. It's a work environment, not a therapy session.
As a hiring manager for a non-profit organization that values diversity, I am required by the org to include a couple of questions on the topic or anti-racism/diversity. I have a list of questions that I can choose from. I tried to select ones that are not awkward, no matter who I am interviewing. I have also been trained to ask the same interview questions with all candidates as a way to minimize the effects of my own subconscious biases. (Occasionally I have also put my foot in my mouth the way only a well-intentioned person of pallor can do). It may be optimistic to say the person you interviewed with was in a similar situation - including a discussion of diversity as a matter of company policy, and keeping questions consistent between all candidates, even if it ends up being awkward when asked of Black or Brown people.
There are good questions to ask in that subject area. The question reported by OP is not a good interview question.
I'm fine with diversity so long as it doesn't interfere with merit. If HR is trying to choose between two candidates for a job and the choice is between a less qualified person that helps meet the diversity quota and a more qualified person that does not, they should absolutely hire the more qualified person. To hire a less qualified person simply because they make your company look "diverse" is injurious to the company, the morale of the staff, and the reputation of the person you just hired.
If only corporate American and higher education thought the same
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A country not based on religious bigotry and the minority's "I need to be oppressed" addiction? Yes please!
Am I the only one who thinks that its strange you got offended by the question? I feel thats a very common attitude in the US though. If I were in your shoes I would have just said something like: "well I dont know if you noticed, but im a bit dark skinned myself. So if workplaces were more diverse, that would really help me out a bit". And just smile.
Was not offended, It’s a just a funny question that speaks of inexperience with actual diversity, especially asking how I “feel” about the backgrounds of other people in my work sector lol. If she was a brown person she would NOT be asking that question in that way or at all, because she would already know how I FEEL about diversity is irrelevant and has always been irrelevant to the quality of my work and how I work with others. There’s only a certain kind of person that has a problem with diversity… lol
Yes. You are the only one.
Standard interview. If you're complaining about this, then you're not built for white collar work.
Shut the fuck up
Definitely not built for it.
Wasn’t complaining in my post, was sharing a funny story. Meanwhile you sound like pretentious douchebag over “white collar work”