As the applicant entered the conference room for the job interview, she laid her eyes on the interview panel. She quickly noticed that no one on the panel was a person of color. They looked at her with hypocritical, welcoming smiles since her name may not have alerted them that she is Black. She wondered why in an environment where a high percentage of their catered population is Black, the interview team could not find at least one Black person among their colleagues to include on the panel? The job interview panel included two women, but this inclusion did not erase the thought from the applicant's mind that her chances were slim to nothing in a room where there was no person of color. She has certainly considered that she may not have been the best candidate for the job, but the following questions keep overshadowing that thought: (i) what are the chances that a Black person will get this job even if he/she is the most qualified candidate, (ii) are the interviewers comfortable interviewing candidates that are not their race (iii) will human nature prevail causing the interviewers to decide not to hire any person of color who they feel will not fit into their professional and personal clique? People of color face a challenge when they apply for jobs at organizations where there is no representation of their race on the interview panel. Job candidates can only hope that human nature will not overshadow integrity so that interviewers will have an open mind and embrace diversity.
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