5 tips on writing Inclusive Job Ads
We have mentioned briefly in this article the importance of advertising and how that can either attract the right talent, or put them off completely.
So this week, we wanted to talk about making your job adverts inclusive. Here are some tips to start:
- Don’t ask for unnecessary requirements – are you asking for the world hoping to find that ‘unicorn’ candidate (yep, we hear that term a lot’. Well… don’t! Focus on what is important to the role and the core skills needed to be successful.
- Advertise the salary – be transparent with applicants. If you set a salary bracket for the role and base this on experience, people won’t feel like they are being ‘low balled’ based on gender or race.. trust me, it still happens!
- Be open to candidates from outside the sector – think about what is easy to teach. Sector being one of those! I have personally recruited across multiple sectors in the past, having recruitment as my core skill set. The same applies! Yes, sector experience gives an advantage in some cases, but if its teachable, open this up to reach a wider audience.
- Use anonymous recruitment – whilst we don’t push on blinding CV’s (as it doesn’t really help with unlearning unconscious bias, it can be a positive thing when you’re not in full control of the recruitment process and there are other teams/stakeholders involved.
- Be careful with language – there are a lot of platforms that can help you check the language used in job ads or copy. What terms are more masculine, impersonal, and so on. We use Diversely.io but here are some others: https://gender-decoder.katmatfield.com/, https://www.yourdandi.co.uk/gender-decoder/ and https://www.eploy.co.uk/resources/toolbox/check-my-job/.
It’s important to remember that this doesn’t just apply to the adverts you post but can also apply to content/copy you put out to your network, including website copy.
Are you publishing content that lines up with your vision and the support you offer both internally and externally? It’s important to share what you do, not only so it can help others, but so people can see what’s important to a company before they apply.
With more and more candidates putting DE&I at the top of their list when it comes to what’s important when looking for a new role, why wouldn’t you!?
Interested in hearing more about our DE&I initiatives, or need help hiring with inclusivity being at the forefront?
Get in touch with us – hello@elizabethnorman.com