How do I use being the diversity to my advantage?
First of, disregard my username. I normally am classified as diversity. I see people play around with it to their advantage (nothing against that) yet I have hard time doing myself.
How is it usually leveraged? Do you just keep mentioning it in your covering letters and interviews…? Like how do I make it explicitly clear or kind of make it a part of my story so to speak. I am good at technicals, so just trying to add another thing to my advantage.
Thanks for advice in advance and if you wish to ridicule me for silly question go ahead :D
Be involved in a school club/activity related to your diversity tag. Honestly I would avoid diversity programs because you pigeon hole yourself and shoot yourself in the foot by competing with all other diversity candidates side by side with no leverage, vs. being the only diversity in a normal process superday? Great as long as you’re not a dumbass.
Don’t harp on it in interviews unless someone asks or it’s truly an invisible diversity (like learning disabilities for example). That’s inauthentic, and annoying. You may get hired because you are diversity but nobody wants it written across your forehead because that’s weird, and you’re much more than your “diversity status” anyway.
Prepare to perform and show yourself purely based on merit instead of resting on your potential laurels, it’ll serve you better as a professional - but yeah it may be easier for you to break in so congrats. Your offer / job to lose.
Thank you very much.
Exactly my point. I myself find it slightly annoying when people overemphasise the fact that they classify as diversity. In the end of the day, I wouldn’t want to be hired just for fill in some quota but rather because I’m a good candidate and company wants me on board.
With regards to the student associations, the diversity group (ethnicity-based) I am from is so small that there is no club to join and no incentive to even start one because I’m literally the third person from my ethnicity on campus : /
I will hone on my technicals and behaviorals, I will try to mention my background in the interview but won’t make it the main apart of my story :)
Do you guys not fit in with another group at least a little bit? My campus had some [nationality] societies, but they also had an Afro-Caribbean society which was a) massive and b) all-inclusive, even of the tiny island nations that are barely represented at uni.
Do diversity programs. Would focus on 3 to 5 banks and network. Be an active participant, smart, and create relationships. Don't make yourself stand out, mesh with the group/culture. Don't mention being a diverse candidate, that's a red flag.
Biggest piece of advice ~ don't be a try hard
Bruh you're gonna give the kids on this site an aneurysm with that post title…
Jokes aside, look into Management Leaders of Tomorrow (MLT) or SEO. Both are diversity programs that place college kids into high finance. They also have experienced hire programs as well that train and place (typically) IB analysts into the top quartile PE firms (and top 7 MBA programs).
Other than that, work your ass off because being diverse will only take you so far. At a certain point/level, these firms drop that diversity shit and are about their bread. They'll hire you as an analyst because it is relatively low risk but how many diversity hires make it to the MD/partner level or better yet, start their own fund? There is a glass ceiling and if you accept the label of being just a diversity hire, you will never break through it.
Thank you for advice
And I strongly agree with you. I don’t want the label of diversity hire - that’s why I mentioned that I am good at technicals because I went over pretty much any guide there is in existence like 3-4 times and can cite each page haha. But you know, everyone who is sufficiently motivated will be strong on technicals and here comes in the diversity thing. It can be a bonus. I wouldn’t want it to be my whole story but want it to slightly play in my favour. Just trying to find the sweet spot of mentioning it but not over-emphasising it to the point of getting diversity hire label or annoying everyone
A lot of banks also have separate interview processes for diversity hires. If you know your technicals and can generally sound like you know what you're talking about, than you will be all set. They ask easier questions in the diversity interviews allegedly so you will look a lot better than your competition who can't distinguish between the different financial statements. It would be helpful to know what year ur in because the diversity internships are available to sophomores/rising juniors as well which would give you an edge to the kids getting their first IB internship as juniors/rising seniors.
Also, are you not clearly diversity as in black or nonwhite Hispanic and/or a woman? Because if you are, you don't need to say a thing lol. I don't even know how you would bring it up, it'd just be weird AF. If you have an invisible disability type of diversity, try and sneak it into a behavioral question where they ask about some type of challenge or dilemma you faced in school/work etc. Make that shit up if you have to but don't make it unbelievable. STAR method is a good framework for behavioral questions.
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