Some Dos and Don’ts When Creating an Inclusive Job Advertisement

One of the earliest stages in becoming a more inclusive organisation begins with not only the work environment but the diversity that you are attracting in your job adverts. The Ladders research found that the average person spends 49.7 seconds reviewing a job advert before deciding it is not fit for them. Too often when people write job advertisements, they already have a picture of the ‘ideal’ candidate in mind, there are many limitations to this, such as falling foul of affinity bias, meaning they are more likely to favour candidates who are similar to them. Unconscious biases may also affect judgement and can cause us to make decisions in favour of one person or group to the detriment of others, particularly for people with protected characteristics. It is important that we consider using wording to encourage a more diverse audience by basing this on the job, and not the person. This article touches on some dos and don’ts when creating a job advert.