Diversity Recruiting

Employer Best Practices

Given their own identities and backgrounds, the complex and quickly evolving world in which they've grown up, and Mason’s commitment to inclusive excellence, our students have high expectations of employers around diversity recruiting.

Here are a few best practices to get you started:

• Make sure you can answer questions about your organization’s demonstrated commitment not just to diversity, but more importantly to inclusion and equity.  
• Reduce barriers. Employers with unpaid internships, GPA requirements, a narrow list of allowed majors, and a traditional workday structure are missing out on qualified candidates.
• Ensure that your recruitment team is trained in unconscious bias and has scrutinized what your organization means by “professionalism” and “culture fit.”
• Update your Handshake profile with examples of how your organization supports an inclusive and equitable work environment (e.g., affinity groups, mentoring programs, community engagement efforts, social justice benefits).
• Be prepared to engage in a customized, multi-year strategy for each population you are seeking to recruit; it takes time to establish trust with historically marginalized communities, and a “one size fits all” approach will not work.

Resources

The National Association of Colleges and Employers and the Society for Human Resource Management have shared more best practices in diversity recruiting:

• Best Practices: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Diversity and Inclusion Resources