This is part 1 of a 4 part series. Stay tuned for the next 3 parts to come.
One tool to
invite job applicants from diverse backgrounds to consider applying for
openings within your organization is to be intentional in the job announcement
or posting about your organizational commitment to inclusion, equity or
multicultural organizational change.
Using only the standard Affirmative Action statement or compliance
language is simply not enough to indicate the importance of these issues at an
organizational level or to capture a prospective employee’s attention that may
be looking to work for an organization that supports inclusion.
Below are a
few samples of language that can be integrated into a job announcement or
posting to support your organizational commitment to diversity, inclusion and
equity:
1. ________
University is seeking creative, adaptable individuals who enjoy working for an
organization that promotes cultural diversity and multicultural education.
2. ________
University is committed to excellence and actively supports cultural
diversity. To support this commitment,
we invite individuals who contribute to such diversity to apply including
people of color, women, GLBT, persons with disabilities and other differences.
3. ________ University is committed to developing in well trained professionals the talents and skills necessary for visionary leadership, organizational change, community empowerment, inclusion and social equity.
4. The
successful candidate for this position will have the ability to work
effectively and collegially with a broad range of internal and external
constituencies, the ability to think creatively and a commitment to or
experience in supporting or implementing programs or initiatives that foster
and sustain inclusion and equity within their research or programming area.
5. Candidate must have a demonstrated ability to
work with individuals across an organization or in a community who are of a diverse
socioeconomic, cultural, sexual orientation, religious, disability and/or
ethnic background.
6. Dedicated
to organizational excellence, ________ University supports and encourages the
development and implementation of multicultural perspectives across programming
areas, the celebration of diversity and the assets that inclusion and equity
brings to our organization.
7. The successful candidate must be able to
support our organizational mission as it relates to inclusion, equity,
multicultural organizational change and the organizational excellence that
diversity fosters.
8. _______ University is seeking
bilingual/bicultural (i.e., English/Spanish or English/Arabic) individuals to
meet the needs of our diverse constituency.
Programming focus and outreach will have a successful candidate working
effectively to program and build networks and connections with these community
members.
These
phrases and additional information on a job posting will not, in and of
themselves, guarantee a diverse pool of applicants. However, this language can
serve to put “front and center” your organizational desire to support such
values as inclusion, equity, multiculturalism and leverage diversity as an
organizational asset, thereby attracting individuals of diverse backgrounds or
individuals who have demonstrated multicultural skills and competencies – both
of which can support your organizational commitment to multiculturalism.
What other
strategies has your institution utilized when advertising positions to attract
a diverse applicant pool?
What other information might be important to highlight in position advertisements when seeking to attract a diverse applicant pool?
What other information might be important to highlight in position advertisements when seeking to attract a diverse applicant pool?
If the
decision is made to use one of the statements above in your advertisements,
what additional steps could be taken in the recruitment and hiring/interview
process to explore issues of inclusion and equity more intentionally?
Adapted in part from “Hiring for
Cultural Competence: Practical Methods and Strategies to Get What You Need,” by
Chris Cullinan, PhD., June 2004.
