More than 300,000 Black women have lost their jobs this year. As a Black woman who’s navigated similar systems, it’s made me think about the interview processes I faced: extremely stressful, multiple rounds, and not a person who shared my identity at any of them. I know from my own experience that there are double-takes as you walk in the door. There’s extensive questioning about birth, nationality and my right to be there, and extreme scrutiny of my qualifications. And even if I then get the job, there’s no guarantee it’s a safe place to work.
I know I’m not the only one to experience this. But what if you could use the interview process to get the answers you really need as a Black person? You might not get the job, but you’d be a whole lot clearer about whether it was the right workplace for you.
Here are 20 questions I wish I’d been able to ask. Reading the Room (and the Policy Manual)
1. Why aren’t there any people who share my identity on the interview panel?
Almost every Black or brown person I know has walked into an interview room and seen a sea of white faces staring back at them. It can be overwhelming, especially if you get the double take at the start that lets you know you don’t fit in.
2. How many people who share my identity work here?
Being the sole Black employee can be lonely and isolating. It would be good to know there are a few more people who share our identity around so we can be ourselves at some point in the day. That said, don’t try to gaslight me by falsifying your numbers.
3. Am I going to be able to get in the door of the building without being stopped every single time?
Sometimes that feeling that you don’t belong starts before you get into work, when the security guard appears not to recognize or trust you, and takes extra time ensuring you’re not a threat.
4. Why is this the right place for me to work?
Most people can relate to taking jobs and finding out that the environment they presented is not the environment that exists. That goes double for Black and Global Majority people who can easily find themselves in spaces where they are not valued or appreciated.
5. What are you doing to make it a safe space for people who share my identity?
Here, I’d really like to know about your company’s anti-racism policy and how it’s enforced. If you have one, that’s already a plus, but if it’s just words on paper, then this is probably not a good place for me to be.
6. What’s your policy on microaggressions?
I want to know if you have a policy, and if you’re going to enforce it. If you’re going to suggest that I can’t take a joke, or focus on the intention rather than the impact, then it might not be the right place for me to work.
Daily Reality Check
7. Do you have an ERG for your employees of colour?
I know of one case (actually, maybe more than one, now I come to think about it) where when a few Black employees gathered, their white colleagues saw them as a threat. Yet white colleagues could group together in large numbers without a single eyebrow being raised. Sanctioned space through an employee resource group shows you recognize that Black and brown people face particular workplace issues, which they need to discuss safely.
8. Am I going to get invited to the unofficial networking gatherings?
Everywhere that I have lived and worked, without exception, there have been exclusive gatherings for white colleagues or peers. Of course, they’re not presented that way. Sometimes you don’t hear about them till after. If you do hear about them in advance, their importance is minimized so you don’t feel you have to attend. Only later do you find out how important they were to building relationships inside the company.
9. Can I bring my whole self to work?
It gets pretty exhausting to do mental contortions. But those are often necessary to make sure you don’t fall into any common Black stereotypes or give people an excuse to discount you. There are whole parts of your life you don’t share for fear of being “that person”. It would be great to know you could just be yourself.
10. Is my hair going to be a problem for you?
Wearing my hair the way it grows on my head or appearing with a new style should not be an issue, unless you’re going to compliment me and move on. We are beyond tired of people putting our hair on the discussion table. Just stop it.
11. Am I “too Black”? (or not Black enough)
Need I say more? I attended one interview where one of the panel wondered why I hadn’t applied to work on a “Black newspaper”. Later, in that same workplace, someone commented that she was disappointed that my name wasn’t “more ethnic”. Honestly, truth IS stranger than fiction.
Ceilings and Cliffs – The Career Ladder
12. Are the people who will be managing me actually better qualified than me or do they just look the part?
Black people in the office are often affected by credentialism – the need to be super-qualified for every role and have the paper to prove it. That doesn’t always happen with white colleagues, and I’d love to know up front if it’s that kind of workplace.
13. What are my real chances of promotion?
I’d love to know if I’m going to be stuck at the level I came in on or whether there’s real room for advancement. Many Black and brown people change jobs regularly, because it’s the only way to advance in their careers. Meanwhile, less qualified people who don’t share our identity seem to get promoted more easily, in spite of our excellent work.
14. Do you have a mentoring and promotion scheme in place for global majority people?
Rebecca Stevens Alder wrote about the importance of mentoring. Black people often find themselves out of the loop when it comes to that. Again, it hurts their chances to progress within a company. I’d love to know how your company plans to address that issue.
15. How many global majority people are in upper and middle management?
One mark of a company that takes diversity seriously is what its management teams look like. You’d better believe we check those pages on your website. Companies with no Black or global majority people at top levels, or only one, get side-eye. (Even one is not enough, because that one person may not have the clout to fight a discriminatory culture.)
Show Me Your Humanity
16. Do I have the right to roll in late and leave early as long as my work gets done, the same as my white colleagues?
Ha ha ha ha ha! I don’t even know why I’m asking this question, because I already know the answer is no! Again, this has happened to people I know, who have watched those same people who have less commitment and experience easily rise up the ranks, despite spending most of their day on Facebook.
17. What is your true commitment to creating a sense of belonging for all employees?
Again, if it’s paper performativity, miss me with that. I’d like to hear about real action bringing about real change.
18. Will I be labeled as unprofessional, lazy, aggressive or any of the other common stereotypes about Black people?
Speaking of stereotypes, something a lot of Black and Global Majority people experience is doing more than average but still being seen as not contributing enough. It’s insulting and emotionally draining, and we’d rather know up front so we can avoid your toxic workplace, thank you very much.
19. Will I be paid the same as white colleagues at the same level, or less?
I remember getting a promotion and my manager making a case for me not to get the full salary increase right away. This happens to global majority people all the time, and it would be nice to know up front so I can avoid that work environment.
20. Will you understand that when Black people get shot I’m going to need some time, and how will you support me in that situation?
When injustice happens to one Black person, many Black people feel it, because they know it could happen to them. And they know it has been happening for centuries and keeps happening, so forgive us if we feel emotionally drained, angry or sad. That’s not the time to ask us for the quarterly figures, or why a presentation is late. Have some empathy at least, and create space for people to process.
Which of these questions would you like to ask at your next interview? What would you add?
Photo by BRUNO CERVERA on Unsplash
- 20 Interview Questions I Should Have Asked – by Sharon Hurley Hall - November 6, 2025