Hiring Resources

Top 10 Hiring Checklist

  1. Know and follow the employment equity procedures for your organization.
  2. Create accurate and unbiased job descriptions and advertisements.
  3. All position descriptions should be reviewed to ensure diverse and welcoming language. 
  4. Post job description both internally and externally. Posting should be broad.
  5. Create a diverse search committee (when a search committee is being utilized).
  6. At the time a search committee is charged, all members should participate in a training session with a representative from the ODEI and/or a BRIC coach.
  7. Create uniform review criteria, to be applied to all applicants, before applications are received. Try to formulate criteria as inclusive rather than exclusive.
  8. There should be consistency in who conducts interviews, the questions asked during the interviews, and interviews should incorporate questions about DEI. 
  9. Ensure interviews and visits expose candidates to a diverse cross-section of our community.
  10. Incorporate prior experience with and commitment to DEI in a job application (e.g., a Diversity statement for faculty hires)

  1. Know and follow the employment equity procedures for your organization.
    1. University hires must be conducted in compliance with IDEAA standards 
    2. Medstar hires must be conducted in compliance with Medstar HR standards
    3. IDEAA Affirmative Action Recruitment Report
      1. Part 1 and Part 2 and the Confidential Applicant Flow form must be completed.
      2. Part 1 of the IDEAA Affirmative Action Recruitment Report provides information regarding the advertising for the position and demographics of the search committee. 
      3. Part 2 of the IDEAA Affirmative Action Recruitment Report provides information regarding the interview pool and offers made. 
      4. The Confidential Applicant Flow form is submitted directly to IDEAA and is not seen by the members of the search committee. This form tracks demographic information, allowing us to examine the diversity of applicant pool in an unbiased manner. 
  2. Create accurate and unbiased job descriptions and advertisements
    1. Well-written job descriptions serve as communication tools that allow both employees and candidates to clearly understand the expectations of the role, its essential duties, and the required competences, educational credentials, and experience for the role. 
    2. By doing this well, it can improve both internal and external recruitment, and can retain and motivate the best talent by ensuring that employee expectations are aligned with business expectations of what the role entails.
  3. All position descriptions should be reviewed to ensure diverse and welcoming language. 
    1. Avoid biased or exclusive language, which can limit the applicant pool
      1. The few obvious ways bias could be incorporated into position descriptions and advertisements is the use of language that skews masculinity (e.g. assertive), femininity (e.g. sensitive) or job titles that are gendered (e.g. “chairman”). 
      2. Other language may violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination Act of 1967 (e.g. “recent college graduate”) or the American with Disabilities Act of 1990. Even stating that a candidate must have “reliable transportation” demonstrates bias against those who do not have their own car or live within walking distance. 
    2. Avoid aspirational job descriptions, which can discourage otherwise qualified applicants. Avoid asking for 3-5 years of experience if you would be satisfied with three, or even two for the “right person”. In addition, words like “rockstar” may give your advertisement flair, but they can promote misperceptions of your workplace.
    3. Have all positions reviewed by a person or office that has been trained and expertise on identifying bias in job descriptions. We propose that ODI develop a rubric to apply to all position descriptions and job advertisement to insure that they are inclusive of all qualified applicants.
  4. Post job description both internally and externally. Posting should be broad
    1. All job openings should be posted and made known to as many candidates as is feasible. 
      1. Too often internal positions (e.g. Graduate Program Directors) are transferred directly to an “heir apparent” without an opportunity being provided for multiple individuals to express their interest. This can discourage overlooked individuals from seeking leadership or advancement opportunities in the future, and may eventually lead to them leaving Georgetown for places where they perceive more opportunities for advancement. 
      2. Position descriptions and advertisements for internal searches should also be circulated externally. 
      3. Conversely, position descriptions and advertisements for external searches should also be circulated internally. 
    2. External searches should follow guidelines laid out by the Recruitment Resources for Departments Diversifying Your Searches in deciding where to advertise their job opening.
  5. Create a diverse search committee (when a search committee is being used).
    1. Diversity begets diversity. Thus, ensuring diverse representation on the search committee itself is critical to achieving equity, inclusion, and diversity goals. 
    2. Departments or clinical service lines should consider inclusion of diverse members from within their domain, as well as consideration of members of the broader institutional community that can further assist in reflecting the ideals of the organization, particularly when diversity is limited (or lacking) in a Department or operational unit.
  6. At the time a search committee is charged, all members should participate in a training session with a representative from the ODEI and/or a BRIC coach.
    1. Foundational to an equitable and inclusive search process is the introduction of best practices to promote diversity among members of the search committee. This same construct applies when hiring occurs without the engagement of a formal search committee. 
      1. For instance, Departments or clinical service lines should provide focused education to key leaders and decision-makers in the hiring process (including recruiters, application reviewers, interviewers, etc.) to ensure knowledge, awareness, and ultimately application of best practices in equity, inclusion, and diversity.
  7. Create uniform review criteria, to be applied to all applicants, before applications are received. Try to formulate criteria as inclusive rather than exclusive.
    1. In order to ensure an equitable and inclusive process, uniform review criteria should be employed. 
      1. Departmental recruiting leads (and/or members of the search committee) should utilize structured questions for all applicants that are geared to evaluating the skills and competencies necessary for success in the open position. 
      2. Incorporation of questions aimed at assessing broader attributes that are valued by the department and institution are recommended. For instance, questions such as “How would you support our equity, diversity and inclusion mission?” may be beneficial in this regard. 
    2. Finally, strategies that aim to include rather than exclude various skills, knowledge, or attributes are helpful in framing the review process in an inclusive (rather than exclusive) light. 
      1. For example, instead of reviewing applicants through the lens of “excluding” board scores below a certain threshold, it is preferable to remain “inclusive” of candidates who have reached a predetermined performance threshold based on the competencies required for the open position. 
  8. There should be consistency in who conducts interviews, the questions asked during the interviews, and interviews should incorporate questions about DEI. 
    1. Prior to the start of interviews, the committee should generate a list of key questions that should be covered in all interviews. 
      1. Some effective strategies include dividing the questions amongst the interviewers. 
      2. We recommend that questions regarding EDI should be incorporated into the set of standardized questions. 
      3. We are not suggesting that the entire interview should be “scripted”, as part of the interview process is certainly following conversation in interesting directions, but the use of structured interviews has been shown to reduce bias.
  9. Ensure interviews expose candidates to a diverse cross-section of our community.
    1. During the interview process, ensuring diversity and representation in the interview schedule. 
      1. Not only does this ensure diverse perspectives in hiring recommendations, it provides candidates an opportunity to meet diverse individuals at GUMC. 
      2. This has become a standard in industry recruitment policies (see, for example, Intel, which began requiring diverse hiring panels in 2014, and has seen gains across the board in terms of representation in their workforce). 
      3. This has also been recommended as a best practice for Academic hires.  
      4. Showcasing diversity during an interview may also increase the likelihood of recruitment if an offer is made. 
      5. Case reports indicate that, for example, “candidates of color want to know that there are others like them at the institution…They want to get a sense of the climate, supports for success, and potential barriers…before making a commitment to the institution”.
  10. Incorporate prior experience with and commitment to DEI in a job application (e.g., a Diversity statement for faculty hires)
    1. It is increasingly common for diversity statements to be requested for faculty hires. 
    2. Diversity statements provide an opportunity to both to signal the importance of equity, diversity and inclusion to Georgetown, and to evaluate the particular ways a candidate can serve a diverse population. 

Resources for Diversifying your Searches

Building opportunities for a diverse faculty is a mission focused imperative for GUMC in support of excellence for our basic science and clinical initiatives. Expanding the depth of the applicant pool and establishing more consistent communication with applicants for relational engagement will help achieve faculty recruitment and retention goals.

Database resources