Is your Shortlisting Gender Neutral?

Are you confident that your shortlisting process is totally unbiased? Gender neutral shortlisting starts from way before you read the CVs. First ask yourself, are you looking for ‘someone like me’? Or someone like a particular person in the team?

This mindset prevents diversity from the start. 

Create a diverse team, including a woman to collate your shortlist criteria. This helps to iron out inherent biases in your process. This team can provide a different perspective and help your process become more inclusive. Women typically don’t apply for a role if they don’t think they are 100% qualified, so be honest and fair in setting out this criteria.

This leads to a closer look at which skills, experiences, and qualities are actually essential and which are nice to have. Be sure that you don’t think an item on your shortlist is essential, when there are alternative skills, experiences, and qualities that are just as valuable.

Research and experience has shown us that women tend to be more modest in the job application process. Be aware of this when reading applications and in interviews. Be inquisitive rather than ready to strike someone off because they didn’t ‘sell’ themselves. In the interview, ask about their experiences, give them time to talk. The more inquisitive you are with all your candidates, the fairer picture you will build of their capabilities.

As always, if you need any help with the recruitment of people of all genders or assistance with your international payroll, get in touch. 

team@projectrecruit.com