Recruitment practices : The good and the bad : Part 1

Our community shares some of the practices within recruitment that might create barriers to access for candidates, alongside championing some of the good practices that improve the candidate experience.

ALT TEXT: A collage of blurred personal specification documents, job application and email screengrabs from recruitment processes.

For those unfamiliar with us, we’re a not-for-profit CIC actively advocating for a society where anyone can find value and be valued in their work. We provide space and support for individuals, groups and workplaces to come together to develop skills, connections and opportunities for work which align with their values, unique strengths and experiences - this includes recruitment consultancy. Our team and community consists of people who have been locked out of work, or who experienced unstable or harmful workplaces because of their protected characteristics.

If you’re part of a team (or the sole person) looking after the recruitment process in your workplace, we hope the below provides some insight and ideas. Be sure to view our free Recruitment Guide for extra information or our Recruitment Workshops - next one is taking place on 31st January and 7th February and spaces are limited.

The bad

First, the questionable practices, a bit of explanation on why we have noted them as a barrier to access and some alternatives for improving the candidate experience:

FILES, FILES, FILES
We have come across job advertisements that ask candidates to download up to 7 (yes, 7) files to read before applying for the role. As well as being an excessive amount of information for anyone to take in on a good day (and for the person crafting these to edit and manage) this can be actively alienating candidates who:
- are not familiar with technology
- might be using a phone for job seeking, making it tricker to manage a large amount of files on a small screen
- might not have Microsoft 365 (currently £80 a year) to open and edit
- might be using a library computer with limited storage space
- might have an impairment making it harder to focus on multiple data/switching between screens
Instead, we’d recommend keeping all information in one place on your website, adding a Q+A section at the bottom regularly updated with questions you get from candidates which could benefit others considering the role. We have previously used Notion to house job ads (see example here) which was quick and easy to edit. Keeping your job ad page live beyond the application process also helps candidates to find the information to prepare for interviews, and for future candidates to see your past hiring processes.
DESIRED : SOCIAL MEDIA SKILLS
There is an immense amount of roles that have social media added as a required or desirable task listed in role specifications not closely linked to promotion or communications, actively narrowing the candidate pool. We have to acknowledge that ‘social media’ in itself contains so many job roles - paid advertising, analytics, videography, photography, graphic design, storytelling, fundraising, connection building, networking, copywriting - each of these requiring a different set of skills.
Instead, work with your marketing/communications department, team or lead to clarify what they might need from the person in this role to enable you to better communicate which aspect of social media is needed from the candidate. Perhaps it’s just documenting impact through taking photos and getting quotes, and liaising with the comms team to create content? A handy activity for this is our “Role workshopping” template, and specifically the brainstorm of “Things they [candidates] might find themselves doing”.
CURRENT EMPLOYER + PROVEN ACHIEVEMENTS
The application form document can also speak volumes of when your recruitment was last updated, what experience your organisation sees as valuable, and the type of candidate you’re looking for. For example, forms which ask for “Details of your current employer/most recent” don’t exactly acknowledge that perhaps the applicant is a freelancer and therefore their own employer... or that the applicant might have multiple jobs, each as valuable and relevant as the other. These candidates could bring a wealth of experience but are forced to fit their experience into a box that doesn’t quite fit.
On the same note, achievements and education “which you can prove” are very limiting, alienating the candidates who have not had opportunities to access this. For example, our talent programme alumni accessed approximately 30 training sessions and workshops on soft and hard skills through us throughout 6 months. These were all run by trainers with lived experience relevant to our community and professional experience relevant to the training - because they did not get a certificate at the end, does it mean it was not part of their growth?
Instead, why not add “Relevant experience” and invite lived experiences, extracurriculars, volunteering, education, employment and training to be included?
IN EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES..
..we reserve the right to close this vacancy early therefore early application is encouraged.” While this note at the bottom of a job advertisement highlights that the hiring panel is trying to fill a role quickly, this small print assumes that your candidate pool has plenty of time to start the application right there and now which is often not the case. If you’re valuing the human experience understand that the candidates might be reading your job advertisement while commuting, writing it out after their children’s bed times and submitting in the early hours of the morning before starting their current full-time job or caring responsibilities. A deadline is a much clearer and helpful aim for a candidate to work towards to, and a note highlighting a possibility of an extension of the deadline will make a world of a difference for someone who maybe just had a chronic illness flare up, and has every intention of applying.
TIME IS PRECIOUS
In our circles, an application takes approximately a day to write out, and an interview another day to mentally prepare for, travel to and attend. By applying for the role each person is giving you so much of their time at each step of the process, their energy and skillsets. Consider the life admin one has to do in order to attend an interview:
- in person (cover childcare, use a day of annual leave, spend money on train or new clothes)
- online interview (a reliable wifi and laptop, a quiet space, headphones, confidence with using Zoom or Teams)
All of these could be impacted by external events such as large storms causing power cuts, school half term, train strikes, petrol price increases or simply festivities like Christmas, Diwali or Eid.
You might thank each candidate for their time at the end of the process, whether they are successful or not, but another way of actively valuing their time through your actions is to offer flexibility so that the process can work with, and not against, the routines and responsibilities of their life. For example, when scheduling the interview, you could give a choice as to an in-person or online interview alongside a variety of timings which they can choose from - in the past we have used Calendly for organising this.

The good

It’s not all bad - we have also seen or experienced lots of good practice in recruitment along the way:

EFFORT AND ACCESS DOCUMENT
This document shared alongside the job advertisement highlights in detail the emotional and physical needs of the role, for example: the type of lighting in place throughout the building, the amount of time spent with service users in difficult circumstances in the role, whether a mini-com loop is installed as part of the phone system.
While asking the candidates about their access needs is becoming common practice in the recruitment process, many candidates will still not outwardly ask for adjustments because they might not want to “out” themselves, might not know what to ask for, or because they don’t want to be made to feel like a burden. Including this detailed information is so important as it gives candidates a detailed preview into the environment they’d be working within, allowing them to calculate whether the role suits them, and to find out what reasonable adjustments they might need to ask for later on in the process. Shout out to Soft Touch Arts in Leicester where we spotted this practice.
ACKNOWLEdging certain dynamics
In interviews specifically, both as interviewers and interviewees, we have appriciated and gotten positive feedback on the simple act of recognising and highlighting that conversations at an interview will flow differently, and that our body language will be different. There might be more pauses for the candidate to think before they respond to an interview question, or a longer silence allowing the interviewers to quickly scribble down notes - it might be very stop and start. Some might have their hands crossed or sit uncomfortably because of formal interview clothes, or a cold environment - we might look a bit awkward.
We have to remember that (in many cases) we’re strangers, trying to learn about each other and connect our work, interests and skills. As an interviewer, simply mentioning “I am taking notes but I am listening to you”, practicing active listening by maintaining eye contact, nodding or “uhm”ing, or checking in on each other “do you need a break?” or “is the room temperature/light levels okay for you?” can be very reassuring for the candidate to hear. Sometimes, especially in remote interviews, it can feel like you are speaking into a void, and a bit of reassurance and a check in can spur you on. This and other wellbeing housekeeping can be seen our our interviewer plan template here.
ROOM SET UP
The space an in person interview is taking place in gives a candidate a snapshot into the organisation, and the set up of this space could speak volumes about your culture. A strip of desks with the candidate sat on one side and interviewers on the other side highlights a them vs us dynamic. A more inviting set up we experienced is everyone being located on a round table which has a more “equal” feel. Lower lounge chairs might also feel more informal and relaxed connoting an open conversation - yet seating that’s too relaxed might not be as accessible. A space with a window for some offers a much needed break from eye contact of the panel, and for others an additional distraction. A space with poster-covered walls might again be distracting. A neurodivergent friend of Collaborative Future noted about focusing in busy spaces that “In each of these books there is a story and my brain is thinking about each story and character”. Do consider the potential needs of your candidates here - offer choice, or at least inform them of the space they can expect so they can prepare best.
PROMPT FEEDBACK
It is likely that your candidates are be applying for more than one role at a time, and being prompt in your feedback (should they want to receive this) after your hiring decisions are made can play a big part in an individual’s job seeking journey, having an effect on their motivation and livelihood, long after you’re out of the picture. We’d recommend offering the individual a choice as to whether feedback is given in conversation through a phone call or a Zoom call, or written down in an email.
ARE YOU STILL INTERESTED IN THE ROLE?
A very clear question to wrap up an interview we have experienced is “Are you still interested in this role?”. Throughout the process, so much new information would have come to light for a candidate about the role or the organisation. Perhaps the travel to the interview highlighted the lack of public transport links to the office, limiting their options as to whether they could accept the role if successful. Or maybe the scenario-based questions shared in the interview gave them so much exciting insight into the work of the organisation that the candidate sees themselves in this role even more. While it might seem too direct of a question, if the answer is a ‘no, I’m not interested in this role anymore’, it will spare you some time when making decisions and also highlight the possible mismatch between the role outline, expectations of the candidates and realities of the role.

A hiring process is a chance to showcase your ethos, strengthen your network and build relationships with new communities through the experience you provide to all candidates - whether they are successful or unsuccessful. While with so much recruitment there’s a sense of urgency, slowing down to consider alternatives in the process can leave a lasting positive impact on those underrepresented in your line or work, or typically failed by traditional recruitment practices.

“I was talking with a course leader at Manchester Metropolitan University about our recruitment process and she fed back that one of her ex-students had said that she had applied, unsuccessfully, for a job at ODM. The applicant fed back that although unsuccessful, her experience of the process and the way it accommodated her needs and how it wasn't exploitative was really positive. The course leader was so taken by this process and said it was unique and progressive in her experience and would encourage others to apply to work with us if further opportunities came up. In a separate conversation someone else we work with approached us to see how the process went. I just wanted to say thank you for the work you and your team did with us and hope that the next steps with your ventures will be as equally impactful.” said Julian Tait from Open Data Manchester, whose team we supported with recruitment consultancy.

We delve into the above practices (and so, so many others) for building a transparent, inclusive and person-centred hiring process in our Recruitment Workshop. Join us online on the afternoon of Weds, 31st January, and the morning of Weds, 7th February to learn more, and to share your own approach. You can find out more about the content of the workshop here, and register interest here. If you have any questions, get in touch with Sonia and Ray who facilitate these by emailing hello@collaborativefuture.co.uk.