Step 4: Construct the Job Posting
Now that you have considered your hiring process within the context of the company’s diversity climate and written your EDI commitment, it’s time to craft your job ad. Some companies may have pre-existing ads that need to be re-evaluated through an EDI lens, while others may be needed to craft a new job ad. Regardless, you should keep these EDI principles in mind to ensure your ad is reaching the most diverse range of applicants possible.
Evaluating Required Qualifications and Skills Through an Equity Lens
The job ad is one of the core areas in which bias could create a number of barriers for equity-deserving candidates. The Chair of the Committee holds the ultimate responsibility of ensuring that the advertisement for the position is free from language that would be discriminatory to any designated group, but all members of the hiring team or Committee should familiarize themselves with the biases that might manifest in the job ad.
The Job Ad Bias Checklist
Bias: Does the job posting use binary language like “his/her”?
This may filter out potential applicants who don’t see themselves reflected in the advertisement.
How to Mitigate:
It is more inclusive to use gender-neutral phrasing or the terms “they” and “their” rather than “he / she” and “his / her”. Unconscious gender bias is both about gender-neutral phrasing but also about searching for the right information and understanding it in the review / interview of candidates – even reference letters can be written in a biased way.
Bias: Have you used inclusive language in general?
Using an outdated term or phrase may signal to an equity-deserving candidate that the company (or department) isn’t going to be an inclusive place for them to work. While language is always evolving, keep track of the latest developments in EDI language so you can be most up to date in your job ad.
How to Mitigate:
Consider reading an Inclusive Language toolkit.
Have you considered which qualifications are absolutely essential (versus nice to have)?
How to Mitigate:
Ensure that every required qualification is essential – i.e., essential to the completion of the job. If it’s not, consider removing it or providing it as a preferred qualification instead.
Limiting your number of “required” qualifications may improve your number of female and racialized applicants. Research suggests that women and racialized people are less likely to apply if they do not meet all of the criteria (Mohr, 2014).
Did you write the job ad in plain language?
Language written with colloquialisms, jargon, or specific terminology may present a barrier to applicants living outside of Canada.
How to Mitigate:
Review the Government of Canada’s guide on writing in plain language
Did you screen your job ad for potentially coded language?
There are certain words that are coded as masculine (e.g., demanding, rigorous, fast-paced, etc.). An overabundance of these words may discourage female or racialized applicants. An undue focus on demonstrating rigor and resilience may also signal an ableist culture, which discourages applicants with disabilities. On the other hand, an overabundance of feminine-coded terminology (e.g., collaboration, emotional intelligence, etc.) without a requisite focus on technical or “hard” skills may discourage experienced female applicants who do not see their level of skill and experience represented in the ad. Consider a balance of masculine and feminine-coded terminology in your ad.
How to Mitigate:
Consider running your job ad through an online gender decoder to see what range of keywords exist in your job ad.
Does your job ad focus more on abilities over experience?
According to the CRC Program, “Candidates from underrepresented groups may lack the requisite experience not because of lack of skills, but because of leaves (e.g., parental or sick leaves) and also because of historical and systemic barriers and unconscious biases that have prevented them from gaining that experience.” (CRC EDI Best Practices, 2021).
How to Mitigate:
Find ways to emphasize the skills/transferable skills that would enable the candidate to be successful. Avoid emphasizing a requisite number of years of experience or other arbitrary metrics like # of publications, citations, etc.
Have you included an EDI Commitment Statement? Do you direct candidates to a website to learn more? Does that website highlight your commitment to EDI?
How to Mitigate:
As discussed, a personalized EDI Commitment Statement signals to equity-deserving candidates that your company is sincerely committed to an inclusive environment. You might consider providing a link to your company’s website, where you elaborate upon your commitment to EDI by showcasing diverse voices within your company or organization, highlighting EDI initiatives, and outlining future EDI plans or actions that the company or department anticipates accomplishing.