Note: This guest post is from Sonia Silbert, who works with 350Vermont and serves on the board of Training for Change. Thanks, Sonia!

Job searches! The excitement. The hope. The rejections. The depressing silences…

Job hunting can be demoralizing and demeaning for the applicants. Those doing the hiring are often too busy or too under-resourced to structure the process in a just, equitable way.

Hiring doesn’t always lead you to the best candidate. It’s where we often see implicit (and explicit) bias, as those in power tend to hire people who speak, think, and look like them.

Isn’t there a better way?

Could you imagine hiring in a way that builds connections and deepens community? Can we lead equitable hiring processes with a justice lens?

I’m not a human resources professional. However, I’ve led a number of hiring processes for small nonprofits (and experienced several as an applicant).

Here are six suggestions about how to hire in a more equitable, humane, and effective way – with thanks to The Management Center and the Nonprofit AF community for their leadership and resources. 

Six tips for better hiring

1. Be clear: What are you hiring for? Be explicit about your criteria. If certain aspects of the job description are more important than others, specify that.

People with power and privilege are more likely to believe that they’re a good fit for a job, even if they don’t match the qualifications listed. Those with less privilege may be less self-confident. As the employer, it’s your responsibility to be transparent about “must-haves” vs. “nice-to-haves” so applicants know what’s really needed.

2. List your salary range. When you post the position, be transparent. Pay what the job is worth and what you’re able to afford.

On a practical level, this saves everyone time. Why screen and interview candidates who won’t accept the job once they learn the salary?

On a justice level, people with privilege have more experience negotiating a higher wage and often think they deserve it. Without a listed salary range, they are more likely to ask for a higher wage.

Additionally, basing pay on previous salary history is both outdated and unjust, because it tends to lock in marginalized people at lower pay levels.

Within the nonprofit community, a consensus is emerging that hiding your salary range is a sign of inequity. Indeed, several online job boards won’t post a position that doesn’t indicate a salary range. If you skip the salary range, you may miss some great applicants.

3. Respond to every applicant. Everyone who submits an application deserves a response, especially if you interview them. Don’t ghost your applicants.

Stressed out about what to say? Check out The Management Center for some examples of rejection emails.

4. Share interview questions in advance. Generating on-the-spot answers is a very specific skill that often correlates with social class and educational background. Thinking quickly on your feet is rewarded in interviews but isn’t necessarily an important job skill.

Distribute your interview questions ahead of time. This increases accessibility for people with different processing styles, and often generates more intentional, juicy answers.

5. Be respectful of their time. Applying for jobs eats up a ton of time. Be realistic about how many interviews or activities you require. If you ask applicants to do an exercise – depending upon the position, this might be a great idea – be explicit about the time you expect it to take.

Conducting interviews during standard business hours may pose a risk to applicants’ existing jobs. When possible, offer alternative time slots.

And PLEASE don’t have them complete a task – for example, drafting an e-blast – that you end up using. Job applicants are never free labor. If you want to engage them more deeply to test their skills, pay applicants for their time.

6. Offer feedback! When I tell applicants that they aren’t advancing to the next round, I always offer to give feedback – especially if we interviewed them.

In addition to building our own organizations, many of us are working to build transformational movements for social change. By giving the gift of feedback to those who want it, we invest in their development and strengthen the broader community.

No one in our movement is disposable. Let’s treat everyone with dignity and respect.

What’s your approach to hiring?

What else have you done (or wished someone else had done) to make hiring more equitable and humane?

How can we better use hiring for movement-building?

Use the comments section below. I’d love to hear your thoughts!