Interviews are an opportunity to showcase what’s great about you and why you’d be the perfect candidate for the role, but they also provide an opportunity for a two-way sales pitch. The company needs to demonstrate why they are a great place to work too. Nerves are completely natural before and during an interview, however some people in the LGBTQ+ community may have additional worries about how their identity could affect the interview process.
Here, we are going to discuss what you can do to bring your whole self to the interview.
confidence is key
The vast majority of companies are actively trying to learn about diversity and inclusion much more and are looking to bring more diverse talent into their business. You should go into the interview knowing that the interviewees will not be judging you at all by how you identify and will just want you to succeed. Be as prepared for the interview as possible, hold your head up high and enter feeling just as confident as any other candidate.
do your research on the company
Take a look through the company website and social media channels; do they actively address diversity and inclusion in their business? Do they address and support current issues and topics within diversity and inclusion? At Randstad, diversity and inclusion is embedded in our heritage and we have a dedicated inclusion and wellbeing team. You can read more about diversity, inclusion and wellbeing at Randstad on our website through this link.
if you feel uncomfortable with anything, speak up
Every company and every person has a duty to not discriminate against any person based on any characteristic they possess or how they identify. Discrimination, whether concious or unconcious, is rare in the interview; however there may be situations where inappropriate questions are asked. If at any time you feel uncomfortable with a question being asked and you feel it’s not appropriate, you must speak up. The interviewer should stop that line of questioning immediately. If it carries on, politely terminate the interview and report the incident to the appropriate person in the business (usually a HR representative).
At Randstad, we don’t judge anyone on the grounds of age, skin colour, disability, gender, marital status, nationality, race, religion, or sexual orientation, and we have a non-discrimination policy to underline this. When you interview with us, we want you to succeed in every way possible.
If you want to find out more about our live roles, click the link below.