How comfortable are you with working in a inclusive and culturally diverse environment?
"Due to my heavily mixed genetic background, I have been mistakingly profiled with several diverse groups, and even characterized as 'that ethnic guy'. I consider myself very cultured, and am well traveled, and as a result, embracing diversity and inclusion is integral to my values. Having also experienced exclusion, I am looking to work for a company where I am recognized for my merits above all else."
This question aims to evaluate your cultural competence. The hiring authority is looking for candidates who will feel comfortable communicating with, and serving customers from varying backgrounds, cultures, and walks of life. Serving over 50 countries, HSBC considers their global reach a unique strength. "We're better when we reflect the communities we serve. We value difference and were founded on the strength of different people, experiences and voices. They are integral to who we are and how we work. Promoting diversity and fostering inclusion helps us to energise for growth. By valuing difference, we can make use of the unique expertise, capabilities, breadth and perspectives of our colleagues to the benefit of our customers. Bringing together diverse people, ideas and perspectives helps us open up opportunities and build a more inclusive world. We are dedicated to building a connected workforce where everyone feels a sense of belonging and can learn from and with each other.
Mitigating hiring bias is one of Modern Hire's selling points, where they promise to improve diversity hiring efforts and help "build your most diverse, engaged, and qualified workforce. Modern Hire's intelligent hiring platform elevates standards of fairness with pre-hire assessments and automated interview technology designed and tested with faster, fairer hiring and diverse outcomes as the goal. With our AI-based hiring innovations, recruiters focus on job-relevant competencies and predictive analytics - and away from demographics and candidate resume claims, which are known to promote human bias."
Conveying cultural competence requires interest, openness, and curiosity. Nonverbal indicators for these emotions are leaning in, tilting your head as you speak, smiling and making eye contact. Signs of discomfort and avoidance could be interpreted as indicators of negative bias and antipathy. Such nonverbal cues include decreased positivity, less eye contact and more gaze aversion, fewer smiles, greater interpersonal distance, and increased blinking. Consider these points when formulating your answer.
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