DIBs at an organization is essential to your own personal growth, satisfaction, and morale. Finding belonging in the workplace will not only increase your overall happiness with the job, but likely your longevity with the company as well. Authors Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy define DIBs; “Diversity is having a seat at the table, inclusion is having a voice, and belonging is having that voice be heard.” If you want to work at an organization that values your voice, regardless of your age, gender, race, etc., use these tips below!
- Research the organization. Before you research, reflect on what you want. Do you want an organization that gives back to the community? Offers flextime? Promotes collaboration? These are questions you want to ask yourself before researching. When researching, you want to look for these attributes in their website, social media, etc. At the bare minimum, you should know their mission, vision, and values. These will clue you into the organization’s culture, but speaking to employees will give you more insight.
- Set up informational interviews with current and past employees. It is important to talk to both current and past employees. From past employees, you are able to gauge why they left and how the culture was then. With current employees, they are able to speak about the company currently: what initiatives they have in place, what the organization’s goals are, etc. Meeting with current employees is only a small snapshot into the work environment and your potential belonging, but it’s a great start. Read our article for tips on using LinkedIn to set up informational interviews.
- Ask questions in your interview. When you come into an interview, you should have a list of questions already written out. These questions will be based on the research that you’ve done earlier. Asking and having questions prepared will make you stand out from other candidates and will allow you to get more information about if the organization aligns with your values.
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- Examples include:
- What kind of employee support is available from management?
- Does your organization support affinity groups?
- What are some new or innovative initiatives the organization is currently working on, regarding diversity, inclusion, and belonging?
- What challenges in terms of diversity, inclusion, and belonging have you encountered and what solutions have you found?
- Examples include:
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- Be honest with yourself and the organization. If you take a tour of the organization and see no one that looks like you, will you feel like you belong? If you come into your interview wearing jeans and everyone is wearing suits, can you see yourself there? Everyone feels the pressure to land a full-time job as graduation draws near, but it’s important to select an organization that shows empathy and humanity through everything they do.
Don’t overlook DIBs — it’s a simple concept that can make or break it for you at an organization!
