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What makes fair hiring? Part 2: Developing a fair and effective job ad
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What makes fair hiring? Part 2: Developing a fair and effective job ad

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A well-written job ad will not only help you attract the right talent and allow you to build a strong pool of potential candidates, but it will also promote your brand, experts from Tripartite Alliance for Fair & Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) say.

This article is part of a series to facilitate the review of your hiring practices to establish your organisation’s commitment towards fair hiring.

Now that you have successfully established your organisation’s fair hiring policy, do you know what the next key step is in your hiring process?

Well, the next step is to craft a merit-based and non-discriminatory job ad and this is critical to the successful recruitment of the right candidate. A well-written job advertisement will not only help you attract the right talent and allow you to build a strong talent pool of potential candidates for the future, but it will also promote your organisation’s brand.

Here are the key steps to help you create a non-discriminatory job advertisement.

Developing the job description

A job description reflects various components, such as the job title, duties and responsibilities, required/preferred qualifications, and working conditions. Before writing any job advertisement, it is important to thoroughly understand what the job role entails and its day-to-day requirements to accurately develop the job description and specifications. Consider putting together your job description by summarising the following:

  • Accurate information about the job role. This may involve interviews with current employees in the organisation to find out exactly the tasks performed or observing how the tasks are performed.
  • The required qualifications – knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) required to perform the role effectively, and preferred qualifications which provide an added advantage in succeeding in the role.
  • The context in which the tasks are being carried out, e.g., the physical environment, working conditions, etc., and other requirements that relate directly to the job role, e.g. travelling on short notice, essential physical requirements, the requirement to work on weekends, or be on-call as a regular part of the job, etc.

Once you have crafted your job description, you are ready to develop your job ad.

Ensuring your job ad is non-discriminatory

Armed with your job description, you can now write the actual job ad. Ensuring your job ads are merit-based and non-discriminatory can help your organisation stand out against competing employers by exhibiting the value of fairness. Refer to these tips to help you write a great job advertisement that is non-discriminatory; and 3Cs to help you write a fair job advertisement.

After writing your job ad, the next step is to publish it. Here are some areas to examine before publishing your job ad.

  • Are there any words/phrases that could be perceived as discriminatory? Refer to the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices (TGFEP) for examples of words or phrases to avoid in your job ad.
  • Is your job description too specific to certain skills/products? Would it deter some groups of candidates from applying for the job or encourage the pre-selection of certain types of candidates? Doing so not only restricts your talent pool but may be perceived as discriminatory.
  • Are all personnel involved in the development of a job ad aware of the need to adhere to the TGFEP in different roles, e.g. drafting the job ad, vetting and/or approving the job ad to ensure accuracy, etc.? Having a robust and comprehensive vetting process in place prevents potential miscommunications that can arise from human error such as typos, lack of clarity, and carelessness.

Selecting advertising platforms

The final step is selecting the best advertising platform to connect with potential job candidates.

Different platforms appeal to different work segments. However, it is important that your platform fairly reaches out to a diverse audience. To do so, always ensure that your job ad is first posted on a platform that is widely accessible by a diverse pool of talent.

The drafting of a job advertisement may seem like a straightforward process, but there are many factors at play that will affect the quantity and quality of candidates applying. More importantly, it is an important indicator to potential candidates of your organisation’s commitment towards fair hiring, which in turn, impacts your organisational competitiveness.

 

TAFEP provides information and resources to help employers and HR professionals keep abreast of HR best practices. Visit tafep.sg to find out more.


Photo / Shutterstock

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