A year and a half ago, we finally met the man known only as #97. All we knew was that #97 scored high on the charts for the skills and competencies we were looking for.
Miguel Espinal, from Miami, Florida, arrived in the United States from the Dominican Republic at the age of 20. He is very skilled at web developer work and is a top notch team player. We often call him Lucky 97. But honestly, we're lucky to have him.
Since my team works entirely remotely, we don't know how to find clever emojis in Slack, the platform our company uses to communicate, but our project coordinator, Crystal Casares, sure does. One recent morning, I noticed a cute little red backpack with her name next to it.
I ask my colleague Christie if Crystal is doing anything for professional development.
No, said Christy. She was finishing her bachelor's degree and had one course that she could only take in the mornings a few times a week.
I had no idea that Crystal was not a college graduate. I was nonjudgmental, but I had all these feelings. I realized I had no idea about Crystal's educational status. Or Miguel. In fact, I had no idea about the educational status of my last four hires (all within the last two years). These individuals are all amazing and we are very fortunate to have them join our team.
I remember talking to each of them on their first day with us. I like to ask people how they felt when they saw our job posting. Some of them said things that sounded like music to my ears. That's it! That's my job! “This is exactly what I’m looking for!”
In an effort to become a culturally intelligent organization where everyone feels safe and included, we have transformed our hiring process in two very important ways. These two simple strategies brought us more qualified and diverse candidates (and I use that word broadly) and were key to making four hires that were a good fit for us and our new team members.
As we struggle to find suitable candidates for vacant positions, we often end up filling roles with a sense of urgency, which is never a good approach. I believe these two strategies will help you recruit successfully.
Spoiler alert: one of these strategies is simple and difficult at the same time. Let's start with the easy ones first.
Sell your job listings through job postings
My young daughter, Kit, was looking for a job in the non-profit sector and asked me for coaching advice. As a result, I looked at hundreds of ads on Indeed and Idealist. Together we looked at the facts, skills and experience needed. Fortunately, given what I do for a living, I can provide Kit with context on the kind of work nonprofits do and why it's important. It opened up her desire for submission. many More applications. There were situations where my daughter didn't qualify, but she crossed her fingers and toes and applied anyway because of the passion for our conversation.
Using job postings as a sales tool doesn't cost you more, except for a little more depending on the number of words. It's a very small price to pay.
There are two components to a successful job posting.
- reason: I need to read your post and feel like I can have a real impact on real people in some way by being a part of this organization. The stronger your WHY, the more people will apply, even if the salary isn't exactly what they want.
- WHO: I read your posts and it hits home that you have a deep commitment to diversity and inclusion. i should feel And a basic EEO statement can actually make you lose confidence in that promise. I need a real feeling certainty It has at least some connection to a broader commitment to DEI.
Consider blind resume screening
Kit arrived at a group interview for a case management job for which she was a great fit. Her first question was her last question she was asked. Because the interview ended with her answer.
question: Do you have a bachelor's degree?
answer: no. After completing three years to get my bachelor's degree, I went straight into the mental health field with four years of experience and great references.
I'm not sure if the interviewer heard anything other than “no.”
It was a deeply demoralizing experience for Kit, and the biggest takeaway here is that nonprofits were missing out on compassionate, responsible, and competent case managers for clients who needed and qualified.
It doesn't have to be this way.
Why did I need a college degree when I had been doing the same job for four years?
It wasn't like that. By eliminating the requirement for a college degree, the door is wide open to a wide range of qualified candidates. Candidates like Crystal.
Two Ways to Implement Blind Resume Screening
One. Start with education
Create a matrix of skills, competencies, and unique knowledge requirements for the position. In our case, we needed someone good with apps on Monday. Then remove any mention of education from your job posting. Lastly, remove all educational background information from incoming resumes before you begin screening. (Fivrr lets you do this quickly and cheaply).
Crystal checked all the boxes for skills and competencies, and with training removed, the team was able to evaluate her based on what was most important to us, primarily whether she had the qualifications and experience to do the job. (The answer was a resounding yes; her formal education was not important in answering that question.)
2. Committed to blind hiring
Removing the education requirement and deleting your resume for references to education is one step. The entire process significantly reduces the risk of bias. This process removes anything from the resume, including name, address, and education, that could lead reviewers to guess about the applicant's race, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
caution
The changes to our hiring process came after our team worked with a DEI company for over a year to create a vision statement and business case. We've completed some in-depth work to explore and strengthen the cultural intelligence of individuals and teams.
Nonetheless, removing educational requirements and identifiers for where potential candidates went to school (if any) sparked some great, difficult conversations that revealed the team's blind spots about bias. You can dig deeper and expect a conversation where someone says, “But it's important to me whether the candidate graduated from college or went to X type of college.” Have a real conversation about what the education says about the candidate or what the degree says about the person's character. What are your organization’s values, and how does the degree teach the candidate how to live those values?
For us, these difficult conversations have strengthened our team and resolve, but we are on our DEI journey for a reason. Don't be surprised if you make an offer and the staff or board reject it. If you are not already doing the deep work to become more inclusive as an organization, conversation can be the catalyst your organization needs.
A Bigger Opportunity Than DEI
Changing your hiring strategies and processes is bigger than “simply” improving your DEI intelligence.
If we hadn't removed the education identifier from the applicant's resume – just because of that – we may have missed the opportunity to hire Crystal, and that would have been a mistake. we said We were not interested in education. Bias that has always been with us may have influenced our screening or hiring process or in some way led us to make assumptions about Crystal.
I don't know much about Crystal's story, but I do know that she raises her daughter and goes to school at night. I respect her for that. It speaks to her grit, determination and ambition. I might think it speaks to who she is as a mother, modeling what she sees as the importance of her education.
The moral is as follows:
Any organization with as much sense as Crystal and my daughter Kit is fortunate to have a lot of people who can be rock star employees.
when we neglect it sell This is an opportunity to inject big, bold meaning and purpose into the candidate's life. create a barrier For those who have the ability to put in the work and find purpose; Our sector loses because good candidates can easily – and unfairly – be overlooked.
Eliminate confusion in the hiring process
Too many nonprofit leaders complain about how difficult it is to fill jobs. Many people ask how and where to find a more diverse workforce. There is no shortage of amazing people looking for work.
If your nonprofit is having trouble recruiting, it may be time to think differently about how you approach the recruiting process. This starts with recognizing your own biases. This clears the lens to identify candidates who are perfectly aligned to serve in the deep trenches of purpose and mission.
Hope this helps!