How To Sell Yourself As A Diverse Professional

 

By EmployDiversity

In today’s competitive job market it can be really tough to be a candidate. By leveraging technology employers can easily access a huge pool of top talent, anywhere in the world. This is why you, as a job seeker, need to stand out. Highlighting your uniqueness as a diverse professional can help get your resume to the top of the pile.

Things like your resume and your LinkedIn profile are ideal places to highlight your status as a diverse professional. However, using your profile statement or cover letter to go into great detail about your diverse background is not the best way to do it. Highlighting the fact that you’re a diverse professional can be done subtlety, while still making an impact on the hiring manager or recruiter.

When speaking or writing about your identity as a diverse professional, you want to avoid emotional statements. Instead, you should remain very fact-based and focus on professional outcomes as opposed to your life story of living with diversity. One way to do this is a simple statement that references your diversity but is also relevant to the job. Your cover letter or profile summary can include a phrase like: “As an African American woman I am sensitive to diversity issues and I make a point to build diverse project teams that benefit from a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives”.

A statement like this works well because it’s not just about you. It’s also about the job and speaks to your professional skills. You are identifying yourself as a diverse professional and how that is an asset to your work. It also speaks to how the employer will benefit from you and your background.

Another way to bring attention to your diversity identity is to include a professional photo. Generally, it’s not recommended to include a photo on your resume, but you can include a link to your LinkedIn profile. Your LinkedIn profile should include a professional photo. An ideal photo has a neutral background and is a headshot that features you from just below the shoulders to just above your head. You should have a friendly expression and be dressed professionally. This will immediately identify you as a diverse professional to anyone who views your profile.

When identifying yourself as a diverse professional, keep in mind that a little goes a long way. Your personal story of your struggle with diversity is important and valuable, but should not be included in job applications. To sell yourself as a diverse professional, you should identify yourself in a way that demonstrates the value that your diversity brings to your career and the employer.