Diversity and Inclusion Interview Questions
Practice 30 Diversity and Inclusion interview questions covering equity initiatives, unconscious bias, and inclusive leadership.
Question 1 of 30
If you were to create a diversity and inclusion plan for your current company, what would be your priorities?
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Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
If it were in your hands to create a diversity and inclusion plan, what would this plan encompass? This question is an excellent opportunity to explore your knowledge of diversity and inclusion related to a business or corporate environment. Hypothetically, if the call was entirely up to you, what would be your top priorities? If you are not familiar with diversity and inclusion plans and what they often include, take some time to research your favorite companies and peruse the D&I plans on their website. Larger organizations will almost always have this information on their website, typically found in the 'careers' section.
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"If I were to create a diversity and inclusion plan for my current company, I would make a few essential additions. I would include a more flexible schedule, paid leave options, and provide recognition of various religious and cultural holidays and celebrations that may not have wide recognition on the traditional calendar. I would hold mandated diversity training regularly and create mentorship plans so that our team members could mentor someone with characteristics different from their own. This approach would be a good start. Of course, it's important to mention that I would build a way to measure and assess the programs' impact."
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Anonymous Answer
First, I would like to survey all employees to gather a consensus on how to move forward. What topics and ideas our employees would like to see in the future. But without this information and conversations, I have had with many colleagues. Some top ideas would be the ability to have flexible schedules. Many employees have expressed this need because of their office dynamics. Employees get interrupts quite often and are trying to meet a deadline. If employees were able to work at home where many have expressed they have fewer interruptions. And another priority I would encourage is onsite daycare. So many members of our community are growing their families. But yet with the expense of child care. Many of our employees once again request flexibility in their schedule or an onsite daycare. This would help our employees and also our retention because some have expressed their need to stay at home due to the expense.
Marcie's Feedback
These sound like really solid suggestions that are based on conversations you've had with your colleagues. You've done a great job of expressing your ideas, which the interviewer will appreciate, and these sound like the type of initiatives that would really benefit many of your coworkers. Because a diversity and inclusion plan typically deals directly with the topics of diversity and inclusion, you might also want to mention implementing diversity and inclusion training if it seemed necessary. Ultimately, though, your priorities seem to revolve around helping as many people as possible succeed within your workplace, which is great.
Anonymous Answer
My plan would heavily focus on inclusion. My first thing to address is why people feel like they are not included which is that certain people can be bullies, judgmental and edgy. So I would hold seminars to make sure people's opinions and backgrounds are always treated with respect, to not trivialize other people's ideas and questions, and to socialize with an array of people, not just people similar to you. Because oftentimes people form cliques based on their profession, race, or gender so I would promote more mixing otherwise people would feel left out.
People often tend to hire people from their own ethnic background so I would also hold seminars to make people aware of the unconscious biases. Make them aware that we're all human and to look at their skills and personality first before looking at race.
Amanda's Feedback
This question gives you the chance to showcase your knowledge of diversity and inclusion in a business setting. You've confirmed that inclusion would be your top priority and that you would hold seminars to enact your plan. This is a good start; however, a good plan is more expansive and includes actionable follow-up steps that extend beyond the initial seminar. It may be beneficial to research companies you admire and explore their diversity and inclusion plans online to help inspire your imagination and expand your plan to ensure it is effective in the long term. Having more than one action step in your plan shows the interviewer that you've truly thought through what it means and what it requires to create a diverse and inclusive environment.
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