When is the last time you hired someone? How accessible was your application and interview process?
Inclusive Pixelation recently hired a consultant. We treated the process much like a traditional job interview, because we wanted to prove how well these accessible HR practices work, and how easy they were to apply in just about any organization.
What We Did Well
No fluff here, just the things we did to make attraction and recruitment as accessible as possible:
Wrote a simple job description with relevant terms and no unfamiliar jargon
Selected candidates with demonstrated potential
Offered accommodations at every step of the process
Let candidates select the interview format
Provided interview questions in advance
Recorded and transcribed interviews for accuracy
Focused on outcomes, skills, and experience - not responsibilities and degrees
Used a rubric to compare candidates
Provided personalized feedback to all candidates interviewed
Paid final round candidates for a work product task
Your Thoughts
What do you think about these accessible hiring practices? Would this provide you with a good experience as a candidate?
What We Could Do Better
I’m the first to admit I’m far from perfect. Mistakes were made, and they’ll be made again. (This is why I needed to hire a consultant, right? And a virtual assistant.)
Mistake: Poor estimates on hiring timeline.
Correction for Next Time: I sorely underestimated the time it would take me to review my notes, assess the candidates, and prepare thoughtful feedback. To make matters worse (better?), I started a new, very time-consuming contract project. There were many delays and many apologies.
Mistake: A small hiring budget.
Correction for Next Time: Post the job on more job boards for higher visibility outside of LinkedIn. Set an advertising budget appropriately (instead of randomly clicking “Promote” buttons on LinkedIn… oops). Set aside even more to pay for final work products.
Mistake: Posting the job as a LinkedIn “Easy Apply” job.
Correction for Next Time: Use my own website for job applications! I can control the accessibility, questions asked, and other elements of the user experience. It would, however, take away some simplicity and ease of use when candidates have to leave the LinkedIn platform to visit a separate website.
Mistake: Things that slipped through the cracks.
Correction for Next Time: Get help with scheduling, emails, and managing social media responses. Double- and triple-check that I provided clear instructions, used the correct email address, included attachments and links, and followed up with every candidate. Oops - many, many times.
We Want to Hear From You!
Have you personally implemented any of these accessibility and disability inclusion practices in your recruiting and interviewing processes? How did it go for you?
Have you experienced inaccessible hiring practices, and wish you had seen something like our process instead?
We want to hear from you! We’re collecting your stories and Making Work Accessible along the way. Tell us about your experiences with accessibility - or lack thereof! - in the workplace. We’re listening.