HOW TO CHANGE YOUR EMPLOYER’S PERSPECTIVE ON HIRING WOMEN IN THE INTERVIEW

I have experience working as an Information Technology Recruiter in the past before I began my career in the field of content writing. As a recruiter, I came across clients at times, who asked to provide Male candidatures only for certain positions specifically. When asked why reasons like

 🔹 Women are not flexible with the schedule of international clients

 🔹 Women don't handle the work pressure well

 🔹 Women don't deliver up to the mark at the time of emergency

Reasons like these were put forward.

This concept of disparity begins with the process of interviews. Recently, I came across an insightful article on LinkedIn that underscored the point that interview questions addressed to men and women are different. Women, when compared to men, are much more frequently grilled about their greatest strengths, weaknesses, and failures. Whereas men are more likely to be asked questions about religious and political beliefs, age, and run-ins with law enforcement that are generally way out of line. Here is a bit of statistics showcasing the disparity.

After reading these statistics, I want you to know that over 8,00,000 women served in the Soviet armed forces in World War - 2. It means in the year 1939-45. We just discussed the statistics of 2021, imagine the oddness of this scenario. If women can serve in a World War, I wonder how there could be any employer doubting the role of women in any form of work.

Let us discuss some ways you can tackle the situation at the interview if you are being doubted for the selection, just because you are a woman. There are a lot of things you can mention to the interview panel wisely and confidently, relevant to your profession, candidature, experience, competencies, and most importantly the question. 

1. Facts and Statistics:

A research conducted by a recruitment giant in 2018 shows that the Fortune 500 companies with the highest representation of women on boards financially outperform companies with the lowest representation of women on boards. Gender-diverse teams have higher sales and profits compared to male-dominated teams. Gender-diverse business units have higher average revenue than less diverse business units. These are general numbers and statistics; you must be aware of the numbers and statistics in your field latest and accurate. This portrays how updated, proud, and confident you are as a woman and an ideal candidate for the job you are appearing for. 

2. Women have a Higher EQ than Man: 

Emotional Intelligence is one of the mandatory skills, for any kind of job today. All the jobs ultimately deal with social interactions and stress. Emotional Intelligence makes us respond instead of reacting. This skill plays a pivotal role in your all-other skills in your career and life. Emotional Intelligence is responsible for 58% of performance in all types of jobs, and 90% of top performers are high in EQ, as per Forbes survey. As per the study conducted on more than a million people by TalentSmart women have the upper hand when it comes to EQ. The significant statistical difference indicated that women have greater skill in using emotions to their benefit. This is one profound factor every interviewer is searching for. Let your interview panel know this if it is relevant to the question. However, EQ is a subjective skill largely excluding gender boundaries. Women are also more rational than men because their cerebral cortex is thicker than men's, just a scientific fact for you!

3. Women contribute to improving financial performance:

All the top Fortune companies that have at least 3 female directors; the return on capital invested increased by 66%, the return on sales rose to 42%, and the return on equity invested jumped by 53%. Women contribute incredibly, here is proof. Nothing matters to organizations more than financial growth. Hence this can be used as one strong argument in your favor. 

4. Women leaders deliver more: 

Women are great listeners, empathetic, flexible, and nurturing leaders. In studies conducted in 17 different countries, across all industries, it was found that having a greater number of women leaders on a team increases psychological safety, team confidence, group experimentation, and team efficiency. Again, a point to highlight to the interview panel to prove to them you are one of those women leaders, too. 

5. Communicate firmly: 

The last and the most important of all ways is to communicate throughout the interview very firmly. Make sure they know you are a woman of substance and will not compromise for anything less than what you deserve, be it in terms of title, authority, responsibilities, or pay. If you are the perfectly qualified one for the role based on your skills, experiences, and competencies then there should be no compromises that you make with your expectations from the employer. Self-awareness is the key. Identify what you bring to the table and act accordingly. Be kind, honest, confident, and firm with your answers. 

I hope we become that progressive society wherein a candidate is evaluated based on its skills, competencies, passion, and qualifications; not gender by any means. The disparity in the workplace is yielding us no good while on the contrary has enormous benefits and yields growth at an aggregate level. Learn the tricks, use them smartly and get your dream job, girls. To understand and learn more on how to tackle Gender bias at work you can watch this amazing video-