Diversity-Specific Job Search
Networking Strategies

©2007, Murray A. Mann

As the U.S. workforce becomes more diverse, so do our client bases. There are increasing numbers of networking resources available to assist minorities, women, people with disabilities, older workers, and others to successfully navigate around employment opportunity gatekeepers and other job search roadblocks. Many of these access roads are so obvious that they can be easily overlooked.

Career management professionals are in a unique position to create win-win job search Mapquest™ for our clients and employers. Training our clients to be willing and able to ask for diversity-specific travel directions may mean the difference between their securing an employment interview or joining the thousands of applicants who crash into the resume pile-up at a dead-end sign.

Even in tough economic times, employers are demonstrating that diversifying their workforce at all levels remains a critical focus. A recent WetFeet, Inc. study, "Diversity Recruitment Report 2003", details the extensive measures used by companies to attract and retain minority employees. According to Wetfeet's findings, some companies spend as much as 70 percent of their recruiting budgets on minority recruiting activities. Other companies are establishing programs to develop potential employees as early as high school. The reasons include capturing market share with targeted populations, customer service demands, position requirements, unfilled vacancies, and EEO / AA compliance.

Most companies are in the infancy stages of diversity recruitment and retention. They welcome referrals from employer respected sources. It is as if our clients become anointed with instant credibility. A senior member of the Diversity Council at Kraft Foods, Inc. shares that "There are many minorities like me who provide assistance to job applicants. I have introduced numerous resumes into Kraft after being contacted by candidates. I make it a point to get to know the decision maker and it helps differentiate my referral's resume from the pile the employer receives."

Below is a Cliff's Notes version of a roadmap I provide to my clients to enhance their employment networks.

Diversity Job Search Strategies Checklist

Most large employers offer employment and diversity pages on their websites. Usually you can go the employer's URL like Diversityfriendlycompany.com and click on Careers and Diversity. You can also check the Site Map or try the site's search function using keywords such as diversity, vice president for diversity, and employee groups to locate useful contacts.

Diversity Employee Networks / Affinity Groups

Diversity networks (often called affinity groups) are flourishing at a growing number of companies. These are in-house organizations often receiving formal corporate support for their activities. These networks play a key role in a company's recruitment, development, and retention of target group employees.

For companies with a corporate-level commitment to diversity, the benefits of affinity groups have grown over time. Networks at the top-ranked employers for minorities, women, and people with disabilities (according to Advocate, Diversity Inc., Fortune, Hispanic, Working Mother, and other magazines) include:

Diversity job search engines are an excellent resource for identifying current employment postings, job search articles, and resource links targeted to multicultural candidates. These openings tend to be more viable than those found in many of general job search engines. Statistics show that the majority of companies listing vacancies on diversity job search sites have increased their multicultural hiring percentages. Clients should network directly with any employer of interest that advertises employment opportunities on diversity sites, even if there is not a current vacancy that meets the candidate's needs. The company may have appropriate vacancies in the future.

Below is a sample list of popular diversity job search engines:

Diversity Professional and Educational Associations

Diversity-specific professional associations can play a pivotal role in maximizing career opportunities for multicultural candidates. Many organizations sponsor career centers, job postings, career fairs, professional development, mentoring, networking, professional and student chapters, scholarships, research, advocacy, profession-related resources, benefits programs, and social functions. The groups often maintain strategic partnerships with employers that hire from their specialized career fields.

A few organizations, like the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE – hace_usa.org), serve as umbrella organizations for Latino professionals and joint venture programs with other Hispanic professional groups. Most associations are career-field specific.

Below are examples of industry groups:

These are only a few of the employment access roads available to our diverse client base.

 

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