Invite risk-taking and encourage a wider pool of candidates to consider applying in the process. Consider doing what many organizations are choosing to do to diversify their candidate pool, and add a statement like the ones below to your job descriptions.
Frequently cited statistics show that women and other underrepresented groups will consider applying for jobs only if they meet 100% of the criteria. We encourage you to break these statistics and apply. (Hazon)
Not sure if you meet 100% of our qualifications? Research shows that men apply for jobs when they meet an average of 60% of the criteria. Yet, women and other people who are systematically marginalized tend to only apply if they meet every requirement. If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply. We are dedicated to a broad array of candidates, including those with diverse workplace experiences and backgrounds. Please use your cover letter to tell us about your interest in our work and what you hope to bring to this role. (The Whitney Museum)
A note on equity: Systemic inequities in hiring have caused many women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ people to apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. If you don’t have all of the qualifications listed on our site but are extremely organized, passionate about our mission, and believe you have applicable and transferable skills from other industries, we encourage you to apply for this position. (T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights)
And make room for questions that might apply to everyone to be shared with your candidate pool as well. You may choose to create a FAQ that describes your organization’s culture, what the standard process might look like, and the ways in which a candidate may contact HR or the hiring committee. You may also choose to have a space for the submission of candidate queries: this works for websites like Ebay, where users can ask questions before making a purchase. It can work well for the hiring process as well, where elements of the process may seem less than transparent and opening up some inquiries to the public may enable those questions to be useful to a larger population of job seekers. For example,
JPro seeks to increase equity in its hiring and therefore: To maintain an equitable process, responses to all questions about the position will be answered in this FAQ. Prospective applicants are encouraged to email questions to jobs@jpro.org with subject: Program Manager FAQ. Responses will be posted within two business days. (Thanks to our colleagues at JPro for this excellent example!)