It’s a BIPOC Job-Seeker’s Market

Tips to optimize your transition and get what you deserve

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With employers everywhere scrambling to hire, there’s never been a better time for you to call your shots. The Great Resignation is well underway, and now is your chance to get a slice of the pie. I consult with companies all over the world, and they are desperately seeking to diversify their workforces, especially in the United States. A few key decisions can be the difference between a great transition and a mediocre one.

I’ve offered some tips to help people, especially Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), optimize their job interviews and hiring opportunities. Here are a few ways to move on from an employer that doesn’t value your contribution to one that’s willing to pay you more, offers flexible work and gives you more time off.

Schedule a vacation for the time of your transition

If you go into a job interview knowing that you already have a vacation scheduled, you can tell them you’d like to start after returning from your vacation. That way, you benefit from that time off without it affecting your PTO at the new company. They may even appreciate that you will be starting the job fully refreshed and ready to go. It also demonstrates that you have command of your time and that you plan well. This tactic is also useful for procrastinators, hesitant to make the leap.

If you schedule a vacation and know you’re going to leave that company afterward, it forces you to get serious about finding the new job and leaving the old one. You also have to be responsible enough to have saved for a decent vacation and be able to hold steady for the time it takes to find a new job. The better you plan for this, the smoother that transition will be. Your boss can feel when you have checked out and hate your job. Don’t wait for them to fire you. Take control of your life.

If you are too nervous about planning the vacation in advance, when you are doing interviews, tell the new company you can start two weeks after your two weeks notice. Tell them you can start 4 weeks after you accept the position and tell them why; you want to arrive refreshed and ready to go. Take the time to shake off the old paradigm.