Today, most employers understand that having a diverse workforce is an advantage. Having been in the recruiting industry for over 10 years and working for direct employers and agencies, I have always built my recruiting strategy to attract diversity. In order to be successful in identifying top talent and attracting a diverse population, you must be creative. So how can you make this happen? The most important piece is using your creativity to develop a sourcing strategy targeted to a diverse population. Your strategy should include job boards, newspaper advertising (if it makes sense), university postings, employee referrals and networking. So where do you start? Let’s look at a few internet job boards.
Posting on the Internet
There are hundreds of diversity-related job boards on the Internet. The goal is to identify those that will get you the best return on investment. Below are a few sites you might try.
CareerBuilder.com. CareerBuilder partners with over 100 diversity sites. By posting with CareerBuilder, your listing will automatically be posted with these diversity partner websites. To see the list of CareerBuilder’s diversity partners visit: careerbuilder.com/jobposter/partners/partnerlist.aspx?id=diversity.
The following sites are considered top diversity job sites in terms of traffic and popularity (Information provided by Topjobsites.com).
- LatPro.com is a leading employment source for Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking professionals throughout the Americas.
- iHispano.com is one of the leading career sites for Hispanic and bilingual professionals.
- DiversityWorking.com covers all diversity profiles and several career channels.
- DiversityJobs.com is an open networking forum with a job posting section. They have partner sites, so you can post with their partner sites and have the position also listed on DiversityJobs.com. For example, LatPro.com is a partner, so by posting with LatPro.com, you will automatically be posted on DiversityJobs.com.
- IMDiversity.com is organized into different "villages" for each diversity group it serves—African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic-American, Native American and Women and Minorities' Global Village.
- HireDiversity.com links multicultural and bilingual professionals with industry sectors both nationally and internationally. Clients primarily consist of Fortune 1000 companies and government agencies. The site is owned by Hispanic Business Inc., although it covers all diversity profiles.
- AdvancingWomen.com targets professional women, Hispanics/Latinos, African Americans, the disabled and other diverse, minority populations in the most sought-after fields: information technology/security, software development/technical services, healthcare/biomedical and legal.
- Hispanic-Jobs.com provides you with one central place to do all of your online recruiting to find bilingual/Spanish-speaking individuals from all over the world.
- DiversityCareers.com serves engineering and IT professionals who are women, African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, Native Americans, people with disabilities and members of other diversity groups.
- WorkplaceDiversity.com covers all diversity profiles and career channels.
It wouldn’t be cost-effective to post to all of these job boards, so review each of them and post to those that make sense for you and your organization.
Newspaper
The newspaper will always be a recommended job posting avenue to attract a diverse population. Unfortunately, with today’s internet options, the newspaper doesn’t give you the return on investment it once did. However, many newspapers—including the Peoria Journal Star and the Pantagraph—will post your positions online as well as in the print edition. Both papers partner with Yahoo! Hot Jobs, so when you advertise with the paper, your position will be listed on the paper’s website and the Yahoo! Hot Jobs website.
Universities
Prior to starting a university recruiting program, you first need to focus on the universities that meet your needs with regard to the disciplines you are trying to attract. Once you have determined the right universities to meet your needs, focus on those that have historically graduated a larger number of women, people with disabilities, and people from different ethnic, cultural and racial backgrounds.
Employee Referrals
Sharing the open position with your staff is a great method to attract fantastic candidates. Many employers have a referral bonus program which provides an incentive for staff to identify those they know who would make great employees. A few keys to a successful referral program include notifying your staff of the open position and encouraging them to talk with friends and network with others they know in the industry. Sell the referral bonus program and then stick to it. Pay out the referral bonus award when you say you will, and recognize the employee via emails, staff meetings, etc.
Networking
Many of us belong to organizations that are related to our discipline. Look at other diversity-related organizations, such as the Society of Women Engineers, Society of Black Engineers, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Black MBA, Asian MBA, The National Association of Hispanic Nurses, etc. To see if there is an organization in place related to your industry, visit the Hire Diversity website at hirediversity.com/tools/resources/links.asp.
Educate the Younger Generation
Many of us understand the struggle of identifying top talent. To help alleviate this struggle, provide education around your business to the future workforce. Visit your local high schools and talk with juniors and seniors to educate them on your industry. This is most successful when you can engage the audience, making the presentation entertaining, interesting and educational. Also provide them with information they can take home to their parents and refer to later (i.e. universities that they can attend, educational materials, company information, etc.).
Recruiting a diverse workforce can be a challenge. Identifying your sourcing strategy before starting your recruitment efforts will not only help you to recruit a diverse workforce, but will also enhance your ability to identify a quality hire. iBi
