5 Services to Upgrade Your LGBTQ-Friendly Job Search

Looking for a new job can be intimidating to even the most seasoned applicants. Sometimes that fear can be immobilizing and prevent qualified people from reaching positions they deserve. Thankfully, services exist to prune the job market for listings specific to LGBTQ communities and market themselves to certified LGBTQ-friendly employers looking for fresh talent, so job seekers can rest assured they're welcome in their new companies.

Want to up your game? Start here.

Out & Equal, beside hosting a library of critical information on LGBTQ rights and inclusion in the broader industrial landscape, employs a number of useful tools to aid LGBTQ job seekers in their search for the next professional opportunity. With multiple listings going up nearly every day, Out & Equal's LGBTQ CareerLink is our first stop on the hunt.

Registering with Out & Equal's LGBTQ CareerLink is free, and users can even import information stored in their LinkedIn account. Listings aggregated to the site include jobs for both U.S.-based and international applicants: After a brief search through available opportunities, we found openings in Brazil, Ireland, and India, as well as locations across the states.

The HRC Foundation, the Human Rights Campaign's educational arm, releases the Corporate Equality Index each year in order to make an accessible guide to assessing Fortune 1000 companies, AmLaw 200 firms and other organization who opt in on the basis of five key points: non-discrimination policies; employment benefits; demonstrated organizational competency and accountability around LGBTQ diversity and inclusion; public commitment to LGBTQ equality, and responsible citizenships.

If you're unsure of what kind of LGBTQ-inclusive policies a potential employer might have, then go ahead and check where they fall on the index. The entire CEI is searchable, so referencing it won't take much of your time while you're on the hunt.

In coming years, the CEI will become even more stringent for employers. In order to earn a score of 100 percent on the 2019 index, companies and firms will have to ensure equality between "different- and same-sex spouses and have coverage available for domestic partners of enrollees," must "remove transgender exclusions from all benefits plans," and "include LGBTQ suppliers as part of their supplier diversity program" if a program already exists. As of 2017, 609 businesses--including Hyundai Motor America--earned a top score on the CEI.

Unassuming in design, LGBT Connect is a good resource for LGBTQ job seekers. Making an account is free, and users can browse postings aggregated from parties like the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources, JobTarget, Broad Bean, and NAS Recruitment. These companies source opportunities from employers like universities, community colleges, environmental agencies and medical organizations as well as gas companies, delivery services like FedEx, and banks--ensuring options for a variety of skill sets.

LGBT Connect is operated by WorkplaceDiversity.com, which also strives to connect employers with more diverse employees.

Local LGBT centers are likely to be wonderful resources for those looking to start a new career or simply find a new job. From employment counseling to job readiness training, the capacity of each LGBT center will vary depending on availability of funding, but inquiring about available services is the first step to getting one-on-one or group assistance.

Attending a university or community college? Ask about your LGBT center's resources for job readiness and placement.

While organizations like those listed above exist to aid LGBTQ-friendly job searches, doing independent research is a powerful, important part of career development. Finding professionals in similar fields, following their work, and drawing lessons from their lives will serve LGBTQ professionals as a skill independent from what any third party organization can provide.

Notable, openly LGBTQ professionals like Apple CEO Tim Cook, Sirius XM founder and biomedical pioneer Dr. Martine Rothblatt, HuffPost Editor-in-Chief Lydia Polgreen, and philanthropist-investor Jennifer Pritzker are all great figures to begin researching--and through that research, more and more faces of LGBTQ business and academia will emerge.

Whether searching for a part-time gig, full-time job or simply a professional development opportunity, Genesis supports the LGBTQ community in striving for a better, more innovative, equal future.