A sneak preview of next week’s webinar with David Rivel of PathMotion, who will be sharing new research to help you to convince candidates that you’re serious about diversity.

In today’s hyper-competitive hiring landscape, organisations cannot afford to miss out on the untapped talent pool sitting within diverse candidate groups. While there is no shortage of diverse talent, career websites are failing to convert diverse candidates into applicants.

According to recent research from PathMotion, Diversity Recruiting: What’s on Candidates’ Minds, 57% of talent attraction and employer branding professionals surveyed believe that they lose diverse candidates after visiting their career site, but before applying.

Clearly, career webpage content is not addressing the concerns of diverse candidates. So, what are you missing?

From our research, we can see that diverse candidates are asking questions that fit into three main categories:

1. Eligibility

When skimming your career site candidates may ask, “Am I eligible to work for this company?”
Through our research we’ve found that candidates have these types of questions because they think that they lack the relevant degree or are concerned about their age. For example, one candidate asked, “how difficult is it to get into this role without a degree in the field?” And another, “What is the maximum age to apply for the graduate programme?”

By featuring stories of successful employees of all ages from a variety of backgrounds, candidates can make more informed decisions about whether a career at your organisation is right for them.

2. Job fit

A group that struggles to see themselves at an array of organisations is military veterans. For example, one client had a candidate ask, “what areas could I go into following a career in military intelligence?”
Many job adverts fail to cover the types of transferable skills that would make someone successful in a role, like those gained during military service. By tying employee stories to the job advert, candidates get a sense of what the role is like in real-life, which can boost their confidence to apply.

3. Cultural fit

Many diverse candidates want to know whether they will be able to navigate the office environment.

Questions like, “would race/religion be a barrier toward particular tasks in this role (such as meeting clients)?” and “are there many senior, openly out LGBTQ+ people at the company?” make it clear that candidates are concerned about how their ethnicity, religion, gender or sexuality will be perceived and whether they can thrive at a given organisation.

Company culture and diversity and inclusion programmes are more authentically depicted on a career site by featuring real-life employees. By showcasing your diverse employees you are able to create content that is highly relevant to your candidates, allowing candidates of all kinds to better picture themselves at your company.

Authenticity

One final point to make is about authentic stories – they are one of the most powerful ways to increase the emotional connection that a candidate feels toward your employer brand.

By giving your diverse employee advocates a platform to share their real-life experiences of working at your company, candidates will be able to see how they could be a respected member of your team.

Candidates are sceptical about what employers say about themselves. By letting your diverse employees share their experiences, you prove that your diverse workforce is actively valued and encouraged to participate in your employer brand. And diverse candidates can see that your company is serious about diversity.