Giving Compass' Take:

• Stav Ziv explains the various ways you can tell if a company truly values diversity and inclusion and the crucial red flags to look out for. 

• What are examples of successful DEI efforts? Does your employer value diversity?

• Learn about how diversity and inclusion make for powerful philanthropy.

A lot of companies talk about diversity and inclusion. But it’s not always easy to decipher whether they’re also walking the walk.

Ellen Pao has experienced this firsthand: When she was considering a role at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, her future boss’s pitch to her included the fact that it “was one of the few VC firms with women, and he wanted to bring even more onboard; diversity was important to him,” she wrote in her memoir, Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change. She took the job. But several years later, she sued the firm for gender discrimination.

When you’re looking for a new job, how can you try to understand whether a particular environment will truly be diverse and inclusive?

These days, Pao is the CEO of Project Include, a nonprofit organization pushing tech startups to include more—more energetically and more broadly. We asked her for some tips on finding a company where diversity and inclusion are more than just talk—and where you can thrive.

So you’re looking for a company that takes diversity and inclusion seriously. What should you do during the job search and interview process?

  1. Check out who's in charge and how the company presents itself
  2. Look at their track record
  3. Ask the right questions

Since it’s unlikely that anyone nowadays would come right out and say they don’t care about diversity and inclusion—most folks are smart enough to know better—you’ll also need to keep an eye out for potential red flags that may be more subtle.

  1. They blame the pipeline
  2. The office doesn't look very diverse
  3. The social culture makes you uncomfortable
  4. You're expected to spend all of your time at the office (and you don't want to)
  5. The interviewer asks about your salary history

Read the full article about how to know if a company is inclusive by Stav Ziv at Fast Company.