July 18, 2023 • 12 mins
If your job ad looks like a Christmas wish list, there’s every chance your perfect candidate is too overwhelmed to apply.
It’s also unrealistic to think one hire can satisfy every issue in your organisation.
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig is a Diversity and Inclusion specialist for Ignis Consulting. She’ll help you refine your job ad to attract the candidate you’re seeking.
+++
Getting It Right is a Jobsbank podcast, produced by Deadset Studios and hosted by Rae Johnston.
To find your downloadable Getting It Right Guide click here. Visit the Jobsbank Resource Centre for more information on inclusive employment and social procurement.
CREDITS
Host: Rae Johnston
Deadset Studios executive producers: Kellie Riordan, Ann Chesterman, Rachel Fountain
Deadset Studios producer: Luci McAfee
Sound Design: Scott Stronach
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Employer (00:05):
You. Hey, you browsing LinkedIn on company time. Are you
the applicant we're looking for for the right person? This
could be a job of a lifetime. All your dreams
could come true. If only you meet the following criteria.
Let me describe the perfect person for this job. You'll
have a minimum of eight years industry experience. You'll have
(00:26):
a relevant degree.
You'll also have an MB A from a fancy university
at which you were heavily involved in extracurricular activities. We
just want to know that you're a team player willing
to put your work responsibilities above everything else in your
life to accelerate your career at all times of the
day and the night, all your qualifications will be earned
here in Australia. Are you a hugger?
(00:49):
That was a trick question. It's not appropriate in the
workplace unless specifically requested and consented to.
You're a leader. You're a big picture thinker who also
loves to get granular and get your hands dirty, helping
out with the really messy jobs. We look forward to
welcoming a strategic planner who thrives on crisis and spontaneity. You,
(01:10):
our perfect candidate will be young and energetic but also
wise and experienced, you'll be able to stop traffic. Using
only your mind, you frequently save babies from burning buildings. Also,
you can lick those tall buildings in a single bound.
You are moderately competent at operating Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.
Rae Johnston (01:29):
If this sounds like you, we can't wait to receive
your application for this entry level position and start making
magic together.
(01:50):
Hm. A job ad like that is really asking, are
you a superhero? Can you fill all our hiring targets
and can you fix all the company's issues? No mere
mortal can leap tall buildings with a single bound and
they certainly can't tick every box on your hiring list.
(02:13):
I'm Rae Johnston and this is Getting it Right. A
podcast from Jobsbank which helps you navigate the complex world
of hiring staff to create a diverse and inclusive workplace.
Doctor Theresa Smith Ruig is a workforce diversity and inclusion
specialist and associate director at Ignis Consulting. Theresa has lived
(02:37):
experience of disability having been blind since the age of 10.
She's consulted for mining company Oz Minerals and has worked
closely with Vision Australia.
Now, we know that companies can have ambitious intentions when
they're writing up a job ad because they obviously want
(02:59):
to hire the perfect candidate. But as a job seeker
reading through a never ending list of 15 essential skills
that are an absolute must for a job that can
be pretty daunting. So how should an employer refine a
job description before advertising a role.
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (03:20):
Look, I think the key is to be very clear
about what you're recruiting for and what are the key
criteria you need? Not a whole big shopping list of
things that you would love to have, but things that
you must have really nailing down that essential criteria to
the key skills
that someone's going to need to be able to perform
that job. The types of qualifications, if relevant, you know,
(03:42):
thinking about the key tasks that they're performing, not a
whole list of add-ons, what skills or attributes might someone
need to perform those tasks?
Rae Johnston (03:51):
So it's good to have some of the criteria be optional.
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (03:55):
Yeah, so you could have two sections, you could have
the essential criteria and then you could have desire criteria
that way. It's very clear. So if you want to
have this big superhuman or shopping list of criteria, you
can certainly have that. But if you split it into
the essential and the desired, then it's very clear to
the applicant as to what they really need to have
versus what they might need to have.
Rae Johnston (04:17):
When a potential hire sees a job ad with way
too many criteria, what's the impact on them?
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (04:25):
They're immediately going to say this job is not for me,
I don't think I can perform this role and I'm
not going to apply and that's not what recruiters want,
especially today where you've got a really difficult market to
be recruiting in there's lots of skills shortages. It's really
hard to find talented people out there. So you don't
want to make that job even harder for you as
an employer by making the criteria far too long or
(04:46):
far too onerous for someone to be able to meet.
Rae Johnston (04:50):
Are there some groups that are more likely to apply
to these roles with huge lists of criteria than others?
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (04:56):
Look, there are and there are those people that you
think about individuals and personality styles and even gender based
stereotypes that we have. We know some people are more
likely to apply for roles because they're more confident about
their own abilities. They often say that men are more
willing to apply for roles if they don't have all
the criteria. Whereas women think they must have every single
criteria before they even begin to apply. And we know
(05:18):
that's not the case.
Rae Johnston (05:20):
So how can companies signal that they may support a
worker to develop skills in areas that they're not competent
in yet? You know, one applicant might have six of
the criteria nailed, but they feel like that they don't
meet another two criteria. So how should an employer let
them know that they still want those people to apply
for the role? You don't have to tick every box.
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (05:42):
What I'm seeing more inclusive employers are doing now is
they'll actually have a phrase in the job advert. And
it goes along the lines of if you don't feel
you meet all these criteria, we still want to hear
from you. We want to still hear what you can
add to this role. So being very specific in the
job advert that you're not expecting candidates to have all
of the criteria listed and that you welcome applications from
(06:04):
people that might not meet that criteria. And that way
people feel a little bit more confident to apply knowing
they may not have all the criteria on the job advert.
Rae Johnston (06:14):
How can an organization show that they are committed to
diverse hiring practices so that they can genuinely attract more applicants?
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (06:23):
So there's lots of ways you can do that. And
it's a lot of the ways in how you recruit,
where you recruit to or where you advertise your roles through,
but also with the wording you use. So what you'll
see now with many more inclusive job ads is that
the job advert will actually say we welcome applications from
people from diverse background.
What they might also say is that we offer flexible
(06:44):
work patterns or if this work pattern doesn't suit your style,
please reach out to us. We still want to hear
from you. So making sure the wording that they have
in the job ad actually appeals to people from a
range of backgrounds or a range of needs.
Rae Johnston (06:57):
So, have you seen any really good examples where a
job ad has absolutely nailed it with some really effective
phrasing along these lines.
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (07:06):
Yes, absolutely. And look, you see it more and more
for more sophisticated, larger employers that have got the message
around diversity inclusion and how to craft their job ads in,
in this way. So you'll see that they will have
wording around things like if you need any adjustments or
accommodations or have any accessibility requirements during the recruitment and
(07:26):
selection process, please reach out to us and we're more
than willing to make accommodation. So being really overt in
the language you use around making sure you come across
as very inclusive. One of the other things I have
seen too that I thought really interesting in a job
ad recently is that the employer actually said we are
not here to tick a diversity box. We are here
(07:47):
to break outside the box and I thought that was
a real great phrase.
Rae Johnston (07:51):
Theresa. What about different generations? They're all looking for something
a little bit different. The younger generations in particular are
really seeking clues that work life balance is a genuine
priority for companies that they work for. How do we
ensure that this language is in the job ads?
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (08:12):
Yeah. So you'll certainly see employers these days craft the
language they use in job ads to target particular generations
or the different attitudes that people have towards work. So
you'll see phrases like location is flexible, you can work remotely.
So all the language around hybrid and remote working is
one way to do that you'll also see other language
(08:34):
and that appeals to generations that are wanting more than
just work. So they'll have information in their job ad
that says
will help you still continue your volunteering, follow your passion projects.
And so they'll use those sort of words or language
to demonstrate that the role can be crafted or to
fit around the desires that particular candidates might have with
(08:55):
balancing work and other commitments.
Rae Johnston (08:58):
So it's easy to put these words in a job ad.
But how do we actually know that these companies are
going through with it? How do we know that they
do have diverse people on their workforce and that they
are really making these accommodations? Is there a way that
these companies can show that
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (09:14):
the best way an employer can reinforce that message that
you're an inclusive employer is perhaps in the job ad,
say come and visit our website, come and see the
stories of the diverse people that work with us and
how we design jobs to make it fit for your lifestyle.
And that way you're gonna direct a candidate to your
website to find out more about you. And there you
can showcase stories and case studies of the diversity of
(09:37):
your workforce and how you support them. What about gender,
job ads? Are there some job ads out there still
catering only to certain genders.
What a lot of organizations do now is run their
job adverts through online apps or websites that assess the
gender based language that you use to see whether it's
very masculine or very feminine can even do that to
(09:59):
the the key criteria you put for a job to
ensure it's more gender neutral as opposed to going one
way or the other. And that can also make a
job ad more inclusive as well.
Rae Johnston (10:12):
Doctor Theresa Smith rig a workforce, a diversity and inclusion
specialist from IGNE consulting.
Don't forget there's more resources to help you with inclusive
hiring and procurement on the Jobs Bank resource Center website.
And if you want to know more about how different
organizations have tackled the hiring process, you can also check
(10:35):
out one of our episodes from season one of getting
it right. Amanda Shepherd from Green Fox studio tells us
how they upskill people within the prison system so they
could transition back into the workforce and the community.
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (10:49):
So they started learning, you know, motion graphics, 3d modeling.
You know, we had people that had learned to code
from reading books. So they'd actually never sat at a
computer before. How do we nurture all of these different
skill sets? Because not everyone's gonna go in and become
a graphic designer when they leave. But what skills can
(11:12):
they actually take with them that can transfer across into
their life once they leave prison?
Rae Johnston (11:19):
Getting it right is a podcast from Jobsbank and it's
produced by Deadset studios. You can follow the podcast in the
podcast app of your choice. That way you never miss
an episode. This episode was recorded on the unceded lands
of the sovereign Darug, Gandangara and Wiradjuri peoples produced and edited
(11:40):
on the lands of the Turrbal and Jagera people. We wish to
pay our deepest respects to their elders past and present.
And we ask that you too acknowledge the Aboriginal or
Torres Strait Islander Lands on which you're listening from.
You. Hey, you browsing LinkedIn on company time. Are you
the applicant we're looking for for the right person? This
could be a job of a lifetime. All your dreams
could come true. If only you meet the following criteria.
Let me describe the perfect person for this job. You'll
have a minimum of eight years industry experience. You'll have
(00:26):
a relevant degree.
You'll also have an MB A from a fancy university
at which you were heavily involved in extracurricular activities. We
just want to know that you're a team player willing
to put your work responsibilities above everything else in your
life to accelerate your career at all times of the
day and the night, all your qualifications will be earned
here in Australia. Are you a hugger?
(00:49):
That was a trick question. It's not appropriate in the
workplace unless specifically requested and consented to.
You're a leader. You're a big picture thinker who also
loves to get granular and get your hands dirty, helping
out with the really messy jobs. We look forward to
welcoming a strategic planner who thrives on crisis and spontaneity. You,
(01:10):
our perfect candidate will be young and energetic but also
wise and experienced, you'll be able to stop traffic. Using
only your mind, you frequently save babies from burning buildings. Also,
you can lick those tall buildings in a single bound.
You are moderately competent at operating Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.
Rae Johnston (01:29):
If this sounds like you, we can't wait to receive
your application for this entry level position and start making
magic together.
(01:50):
Hm. A job ad like that is really asking, are
you a superhero? Can you fill all our hiring targets
and can you fix all the company's issues? No mere
mortal can leap tall buildings with a single bound and
they certainly can't tick every box on your hiring list.
(02:13):
I'm Rae Johnston and this is Getting it Right. A
podcast from Jobsbank which helps you navigate the complex world
of hiring staff to create a diverse and inclusive workplace.
Doctor Theresa Smith Ruig is a workforce diversity and inclusion
specialist and associate director at Ignis Consulting. Theresa has lived
(02:37):
experience of disability having been blind since the age of 10.
She's consulted for mining company Oz Minerals and has worked
closely with Vision Australia.
Now, we know that companies can have ambitious intentions when
they're writing up a job ad because they obviously want
(02:59):
to hire the perfect candidate. But as a job seeker
reading through a never ending list of 15 essential skills
that are an absolute must for a job that can
be pretty daunting. So how should an employer refine a
job description before advertising a role.
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (03:20):
Look, I think the key is to be very clear
about what you're recruiting for and what are the key
criteria you need? Not a whole big shopping list of
things that you would love to have, but things that
you must have really nailing down that essential criteria to
the key skills
that someone's going to need to be able to perform
that job. The types of qualifications, if relevant, you know,
(03:42):
thinking about the key tasks that they're performing, not a
whole list of add-ons, what skills or attributes might someone
need to perform those tasks?
Rae Johnston (03:51):
So it's good to have some of the criteria be optional.
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (03:55):
Yeah, so you could have two sections, you could have
the essential criteria and then you could have desire criteria
that way. It's very clear. So if you want to
have this big superhuman or shopping list of criteria, you
can certainly have that. But if you split it into
the essential and the desired, then it's very clear to
the applicant as to what they really need to have
versus what they might need to have.
Rae Johnston (04:17):
When a potential hire sees a job ad with way
too many criteria, what's the impact on them?
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (04:25):
They're immediately going to say this job is not for me,
I don't think I can perform this role and I'm
not going to apply and that's not what recruiters want,
especially today where you've got a really difficult market to
be recruiting in there's lots of skills shortages. It's really
hard to find talented people out there. So you don't
want to make that job even harder for you as
an employer by making the criteria far too long or
(04:46):
far too onerous for someone to be able to meet.
Rae Johnston (04:50):
Are there some groups that are more likely to apply
to these roles with huge lists of criteria than others?
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (04:56):
Look, there are and there are those people that you
think about individuals and personality styles and even gender based
stereotypes that we have. We know some people are more
likely to apply for roles because they're more confident about
their own abilities. They often say that men are more
willing to apply for roles if they don't have all
the criteria. Whereas women think they must have every single
criteria before they even begin to apply. And we know
(05:18):
that's not the case.
Rae Johnston (05:20):
So how can companies signal that they may support a
worker to develop skills in areas that they're not competent
in yet? You know, one applicant might have six of
the criteria nailed, but they feel like that they don't
meet another two criteria. So how should an employer let
them know that they still want those people to apply
for the role? You don't have to tick every box.
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (05:42):
What I'm seeing more inclusive employers are doing now is
they'll actually have a phrase in the job advert. And
it goes along the lines of if you don't feel
you meet all these criteria, we still want to hear
from you. We want to still hear what you can
add to this role. So being very specific in the
job advert that you're not expecting candidates to have all
of the criteria listed and that you welcome applications from
(06:04):
people that might not meet that criteria. And that way
people feel a little bit more confident to apply knowing
they may not have all the criteria on the job advert.
Rae Johnston (06:14):
How can an organization show that they are committed to
diverse hiring practices so that they can genuinely attract more applicants?
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (06:23):
So there's lots of ways you can do that. And
it's a lot of the ways in how you recruit,
where you recruit to or where you advertise your roles through,
but also with the wording you use. So what you'll
see now with many more inclusive job ads is that
the job advert will actually say we welcome applications from
people from diverse background.
What they might also say is that we offer flexible
(06:44):
work patterns or if this work pattern doesn't suit your style,
please reach out to us. We still want to hear
from you. So making sure the wording that they have
in the job ad actually appeals to people from a
range of backgrounds or a range of needs.
Rae Johnston (06:57):
So, have you seen any really good examples where a
job ad has absolutely nailed it with some really effective
phrasing along these lines.
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (07:06):
Yes, absolutely. And look, you see it more and more
for more sophisticated, larger employers that have got the message
around diversity inclusion and how to craft their job ads in,
in this way. So you'll see that they will have
wording around things like if you need any adjustments or
accommodations or have any accessibility requirements during the recruitment and
(07:26):
selection process, please reach out to us and we're more
than willing to make accommodation. So being really overt in
the language you use around making sure you come across
as very inclusive. One of the other things I have
seen too that I thought really interesting in a job
ad recently is that the employer actually said we are
not here to tick a diversity box. We are here
(07:47):
to break outside the box and I thought that was
a real great phrase.
Rae Johnston (07:51):
Theresa. What about different generations? They're all looking for something
a little bit different. The younger generations in particular are
really seeking clues that work life balance is a genuine
priority for companies that they work for. How do we
ensure that this language is in the job ads?
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (08:12):
Yeah. So you'll certainly see employers these days craft the
language they use in job ads to target particular generations
or the different attitudes that people have towards work. So
you'll see phrases like location is flexible, you can work remotely.
So all the language around hybrid and remote working is
one way to do that you'll also see other language
(08:34):
and that appeals to generations that are wanting more than
just work. So they'll have information in their job ad
that says
will help you still continue your volunteering, follow your passion projects.
And so they'll use those sort of words or language
to demonstrate that the role can be crafted or to
fit around the desires that particular candidates might have with
(08:55):
balancing work and other commitments.
Rae Johnston (08:58):
So it's easy to put these words in a job ad.
But how do we actually know that these companies are
going through with it? How do we know that they
do have diverse people on their workforce and that they
are really making these accommodations? Is there a way that
these companies can show that
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (09:14):
the best way an employer can reinforce that message that
you're an inclusive employer is perhaps in the job ad,
say come and visit our website, come and see the
stories of the diverse people that work with us and
how we design jobs to make it fit for your lifestyle.
And that way you're gonna direct a candidate to your
website to find out more about you. And there you
can showcase stories and case studies of the diversity of
(09:37):
your workforce and how you support them. What about gender,
job ads? Are there some job ads out there still
catering only to certain genders.
What a lot of organizations do now is run their
job adverts through online apps or websites that assess the
gender based language that you use to see whether it's
very masculine or very feminine can even do that to
(09:59):
the the key criteria you put for a job to
ensure it's more gender neutral as opposed to going one
way or the other. And that can also make a
job ad more inclusive as well.
Rae Johnston (10:12):
Doctor Theresa Smith rig a workforce, a diversity and inclusion
specialist from IGNE consulting.
Don't forget there's more resources to help you with inclusive
hiring and procurement on the Jobs Bank resource Center website.
And if you want to know more about how different
organizations have tackled the hiring process, you can also check
(10:35):
out one of our episodes from season one of getting
it right. Amanda Shepherd from Green Fox studio tells us
how they upskill people within the prison system so they
could transition back into the workforce and the community.
Dr Theresa Smith Ruig (10:49):
So they started learning, you know, motion graphics, 3d modeling.
You know, we had people that had learned to code
from reading books. So they'd actually never sat at a
computer before. How do we nurture all of these different
skill sets? Because not everyone's gonna go in and become
a graphic designer when they leave. But what skills can
(11:12):
they actually take with them that can transfer across into
their life once they leave prison?
Rae Johnston (11:19):
Getting it right is a podcast from Jobsbank and it's
produced by Deadset studios. You can follow the podcast in the
podcast app of your choice. That way you never miss
an episode. This episode was recorded on the unceded lands
of the sovereign Darug, Gandangara and Wiradjuri peoples produced and edited
(11:40):
on the lands of the Turrbal and Jagera people. We wish to
pay our deepest respects to their elders past and present.
And we ask that you too acknowledge the Aboriginal or
Torres Strait Islander Lands on which you're listening from.
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