Benefits, and particularly flexible working arrangements, are important to applicants. Let people know of any attractive benefits or provisions on offer, as they are a considerable selling point, and not mentioning them can deter candidates from applying.

Likewise, if you offer flexible working, mention it. A report conduced by BIT found that while 30% of companies offered it, only 5.5% actually used the phrase ‘flexible working’ in job adverts. This is more important now than ever, as in a post-COVID world, flexible working will be expected, and firms will need to develop competitive working models in order to compete. Making sure you advertise it is imperative for attracting talent.

Certain words and phrases can attract particular groups of people, and so it is important to consider your choice of words. For example, ‘adaptable’ and ‘dynamic’ are often seen as stereotypically young, whilst the words ‘dedicated’ and ‘knowledgeable’ are stereotypically older. The BIT report found that older applicants are put off by ‘younger’ language, but less so the other way around.

Similarly, phrases such as ‘strong English-language skills’ often discourage from people of a certain background or religion from applying.

This one may seem obvious, but it is often done unintentionally. Studies have shown that most women will only apply for jobs where they meet 100% of the criteria listed, whereas men will apply if they meet 60%. Therefore, consider what the ‘must-haves’ of the job are, and leave out things that aren’t essential. Language can also be gender-coded, thus reducing applications. Below are some examples:

Female-coded words: understanding, compassion, empathise, support, dependable

Male-coded words: outspoken, aggressive, dominant, lead, competitive

For example, the male-biased phrase “Who thrives in a competitive atmosphere…” could be changed to “Who is motivated by high goals…” and the female-biased phrase “Support a team” could be changed to “Work alongside a team”.

A Gender-bias decoder, like this one, is a great way to check your adverts.

Could someone with dyslexia understand that font? Is an audio version available? Can it be accessed from a phone? Are paragraphs too long for online readers? We highly recommend doing trial runs of all your adverts to make sure they’re easy to use and available to everyone.

The aim of this article is not to criticise, but to enable you to improve the diversity and relevance of the applications you receive. People’s focus has shifted, especially since the Coronavirus crisis began, and diversity and flexibility have become even more important. No firm can afford to ignore this in a talent market which is set to become more and more competitive.

Established in 2010 by Simon Roderick, a recruiter with 20 years City recruitment experience, Fram Search is a specialist financial services recruitment consultancy. We focus on permanent and interim recruitment in the UK & internationally.

We provide high quality contingent and retained recruitment to boutiques and global brands. We have long established relationships and access to deep talent pools. Fram takes a highly consultative approach, and we have a quality over quantity ethos. We are proud that our contingent fill rate is nearly three the industry average and we augment our retained search methodology with rigorous psychometric testing. Champions of diversity & inclusion, all staff have undertaken unconscious bias training.

Please contact us on 01525 864 372 / [email protected] to learn more.