How to Encourage Diverse Applicants through Talent Acquisition
With more than half a million IT jobs open in just the U.S. alone at any point in the year, the tech industry struggles to find enough skilled workers for its open positions. Often, tech companies are simply hiring away from each other, instead of finding new talent to bring into the industry. As you face intense competition for talent, you’ll need to widen the scope of what you consider for a job candidate. Maybe you’ll even discover that diamond in the rough.
While trying to find new talent, you don’t want to unconsciously discourage applicants from a variety of backgrounds because your position descriptions may have some biased language. Unconscious bias around race, age, ability status, and gender can limit your applicant pool.
Even the language used in your job ads that describes your company can unwittingly influence different groups to more likely apply for your open positions. For instance, if you describe your company as a family and being empathetic, research shows the description will appeal more to women. If you describe your company as competitive and fast-paced, the description will appeal to more men.
As an employer, you can take steps to recognize and reduce these biases during your own IT talent searches. But where should you start? And how can you help others on your team do the same? What are some of the dos and don’ts of hiring without bias?
