Assessing a Candidate’s
Multicultural Skills and Competencies: Sample Interview Questions
By: Dionardo Pizaña
One way to
measure the success of any organization committed to diversifying its employees
is to visibly see diversity reflected in its workforce across race, gender,
sexual orientation, disabilities, etc. and at every level of the organization.
In many cases, this is a long term process to not only hire diverse employees,
but more importantly to retain these employees and support their success. Another opportunity for organizations
committed to inclusion is to expect that all employees, regardless of
background or position that they are applying for, to possess multicultural
experiences, skills and competencies as part of their professional portfolio.
With this consideration in mind, it may be helpful to consider using questions
similar to those found below, during the interview process, to delve deeper
into the candidate’s skills or competencies related to diversity and inclusion:
1. This position has responsibilities for
reaching traditional and new and diverse audiences across race, gender, sexual
orientation, disabilities, etc. within Agricultural and Natural Resources. Please describe how your past experiences
have prepared you to reach this goal effectively. Provide us with at least one example from
your past experiences, what you learned from the experience and how you would
apply this learning to this position.
2. ________University has, as one of its
organizational values, the support of diversity, multiculturalism and inclusion. Please describe how you see these values as
relevant to the position for which you are applying. Specifically, give at least one example of
how you see the responsibilities of this position playing a part in promoting
these values.
3. Describe a multicultural experience you had
with an ethnic/racial group other than your own and the outcomes of that
experience that lead you to think/believe that you were effective.
4. Describe
a time when you initially had trouble understanding the point of view of
someone of a different ethnic, racial or cultural background. What steps did you take in order to better
understand this person’s point of view?
How did this influence your own point of view?
5. Describe a time when you were supervising a
staff and there was a cultural conflict between two members of that staff. How did you discover the conflict? How did you handle it? What did you learn about yourself as a
supervisor in the process?
6. You have been
asked to work with your department to launch an initiative to educate and
connect a more racially diverse constituency to the mission and resources of
the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. How would you go about
providing leadership for this request? How would you determine that this
process had been successful?
7. MSUE
works with a diverse representation of the population across the state in all
program areas, please share with us your experience working with diverse
populations and how you have measured success for the work you have done with
these diverse populations.
8.
You are made aware of a situation in a county that may end up with a
Civil Rights claim being filed. A county
on the western side of the state with a growing Latino population has struggled
to engage Latino youth and volunteers in 4 H clubs. Many of the Latino parents feel their
children are unwelcomed by established clubs and the focus of these traditional
clubs don’t seem to meet their needs.
How would you handle this situation and what would be your immediate,
short and long term goals?
9. You get a call from a staff person who
has recently learned about a need to provide programming for a population of
adults who are hard of hearing or deaf.
She sees the need and potential for working with this population, but
doesn’t know exactly where to start or what resources she might need or have
access to. She has come to you because
she is curious about any teaching techniques or strategies that you would
recommend. What advice and support
would you provide this staff person?
10. In what ways
have you seen the issues of race, gender, class and other differences inform your
work and research and what do you see as areas for growth for yourself in
becoming more culturally competent?
11. Describe a time when you implemented a teaching strategy or used
diverse curriculum content to support a learning environment that was inviting
and inclusive for all? How did you know
it was successful?
12. Think back to a professional development opportunity that you
attended in the past 5 years that supported your learning about issues of
diversity, cultural competency or inclusion?
What stood out for you as important about this learning and how have you
integrated what you learned into your personal and professional life?
13. Describe a time when you
missed an opportunity in a professional setting to address an issue related to
diversity, multiculturalism or inclusion? For example, maybe an offensive
remark was made, an offensive joke was told or a co-workers diverse
perspectives or realities were discounted or minimized. How did that make you
feel and what have you done since to be better prepared to address similar
opportunities?
When
developing interview questions for potential candidates that explore their
understanding or experience related to multiculturalism, diversity or
inclusion, it is important ensure that the questions:
1. Are
directly related to the work of the position for which the applicant is
applying
2. Are
designed to elicit the specific information being sought and are not vague
3. Provide
an opportunity to demonstrate specific knowledge or skills related to
diversity, multiculturalism or inclusion
4. Are used as
one of several processes to determine a candidate’s success for the position
that they have applied
What other questions have you
found useful in determining a candidate’s cultural competency skills?
How has the addition of questions
related to diversity, multiculturalism or cultural competency added value to
your candidate interview and selection processes?
Adapted in part from “Hiring for Cultural Competence:
Practical Methods and Strategies to Get What You Need,” by Chris Cullinan,
PhD., June 2004.
