How to draft a female friendly job advert ?

I've got a couple of job specs, and I'm looking at them and thinking, "I don't even know what that's talking about, let alone know whether I can do it." Though the people who sent them have my CV already. Have to admit I have mostly focussed on the technical requirements, rather than desired traits, so I'm not sure if it's male-focussed.

(Actually, I think I probably need to change field a bit, rather than going for more of the same. I'm not quite sure how to go about it, though, despite being quite good at being able to advise people on how to review their own careers and what they're good at and like...)

Yes, I like sashh's comment as well - I think it would encourage applications in a way 'we are an equal ops employer' wouldn't - everyone says that, whether it's true or not.

By the way, like sashh I am job hunting at the moment so the obvious thing is just to employ both of us - sorted

I wouldn't pay too much notice of job ads that say they're an equal opportunities employer. I can't imagine that any employer is going to advertise any short-comings in that area. It's a bit like no candidate is going to admit to being rubbish at time-keeping or anything like that in their application, even if it's true.

Still, I suppose it does show it's something they think about. And I quite like sashh's version.

It's very heartening to see this issue being taken seriously, but most disheartening to see the number of people who are willfully misunderstanding your aim.

"I'm also confused why you need more women to apply, if you are already attracting more female than male candidates."

OP says "This role tends to attract a 70/30 split of male/female applicants." So it's not already attracting more female than male candidates. So that's why they want more women to apply.

I think the "women only apply if they can tick all the boxes" point is an important one. Phrasing the ad so that the boxes specified are all genuine "must have" requirements and then adding on something like tribpot's "in addition we are looking for well-rounded candidates who can bring diversity - of experience, of opinion, of approaches to problem solving" seems like a sensible option, rather than listing your nice-to-haves (given that studies show that men will apply even if they have very few nice-to-haves while women won't apply unless they have all of them, you aren't really gaining anything by putting them in the ad). You can still think about your nice-to-haves when filtering applications and CVs, but you will probably get a better spread of applications in.

I had a look at this recently, as also work in a male dominated industry, and reworded a job description with the aim of encouraging more women to apply.

We emphasised working as a team, good communication skills, flexible and friendly working environment, opportunities to learn and grow within the organisation (ie you don't need to know it all from day 1). Also some of our job descriptions had sentences that were quite short and curt (and so felt aggressive), so I made them a bit more conversational.

We have got quite a few female applicants at the moment, so maybe it's working. I do need to compare the numbers to previous years to be sure though.

What is the typical male/female split in the jobs you are advertising? If you offer roles that are widley dominated by men, surely you will expect more men to apply, because there simply are more qualified men, so what you really want are more women to take up whatever career you are offering?

If it's plumbing, bricklaying or heavy engineering for example, there will be qualified women out there, but many times more men, so there are simply more qualified men out there to apply.

But It's well known that women are less likely to apply if they don't meet all the job spec/person requirements, but men will give it a go if they meet some of the job spec/person requirements.

Maybe something about 'we welcome applications from candidates who may not meet all the requirements for the role but would be willing to undertake further training or qualifications'.

But I'm also confused why you need more women to apply, if you are already attracting more female than male candidates.

As Buffy says, generally women will only apply if they can tick all the boxes, while men will apply even if they only tick 20%, and rely on blagging and confidence for the rest. Some kind of wording that suggests the qualities/skills/experiences on the list are not all essential, but that willingness to learn, life experience, team player etc (or whatever is appropriate to the job) are more important, would help women see this.

I don't think of flexitime as equating to a crappy job - I know some pretty senior people on flexible hours. I'm a woman and it would be very important to me. I'm self-employed but if I had a job again, I'd want one where they recognise that what matters is the work getting done well, rather than the bums on seats / jacket on chair attitude that you have to be visibly present all the time. I would love to see it mentioned on a job ad.

I think what puts a lot of people off when they're returning from time out for children/caring is the dread of having to account for that time on their CV and the feeling that voluntary work during that time counts for nothing. I think you need to make it explicitly clear that the standard full list of unbroken employment is not a requirement and that voluntary work does count.

How about something like "we are a company that recognises potential in our staff. We are looking for someone who brings with them enthusiasm, a willingness to cooperate and a mature attitude. We are hoping to nurture a great candidate who needs the opportunity to take the next step in their career. We do not expect perfection - we expect a willingness to learn and a desire to succeed."

Those are the roundabout ways of saying it, but would it be possible to say something more direct, like:
"We encourage applications from people at all stages of their career -whether you're starting out with a great desire to learn, looking for the next step in your career, or you've have had time out from paid employment are looking to put your skills back into the workforce. We value all types of experience, be it voluntary, part time, paid or unpaid. You are more than just a CV - we appreciate you and your life experience."

And you could add that the right candidate will be supported with any special needs requirements / extra training.

How about adding: We take our duty as an equal opportunities employer seriously and welcome applications from those underrepresented in this industry.

BTW what's the job and where? I'm job hunting.

i think a mention at the bottom that you are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all regardless of gender, race, sexuality, disability, religion etc

Primadonnagirl no need to apply, blistory wants the best candidate regardless of gender. Best candidate will certainly have basic reading comprehension as a minimum.

You need to get some proper legal advice..you are clearly intending bias . I won't be applying

Exactly. In IT, there is an issue with there are not that many women around - but there aren't as few as we get applications.

I have seen an IT manager go through a pile of CVs and discard some on the grounds that it's not an English name, so he won't be able to understand what he says (when whoever it was probably grew up somewhere exotic like Slough.) Now I'm older and more confident, I would speak out against that, and possibly go to HR. I wish HR would actually remove name and similar identifying info when they gave out CVs, but when I asked about this a few months ago, they said that managers should have sufficient training that it shouldn't be an issue. And I agree, they should have and it shouldn't be, but...

Yes, I have some comment in my annual review (which I must read properly, comment on and sign tomorrow,) about being the most vocal in the department about giving feedback. It's partly positive, in that it's acknowledged I can always be relied on to give feedback, but the way it's phrased, there's an undercurrent of different opinions are not welcome (well, I know that in our department anyway.) Whereas, I think that different opinions mean you'll make better decisions, because you'll have considered more options, more pros and cons. Plus they should listen to me on account of me always being right.

It's very noticeable to me that our department is nearly all male and all white. One of the development team is very Indian. Another application support team is remarkably mostly female, which really stands out. We have only one black guy working in the techy departments that I can see. Most of them are all white males, though. I remain to be convinced that for all our equal opportunities policies (and to be fair, they're really improved on diversity in the last 3 years or so, and most of these teams were built and have had headcount freezes since before then) - I remain to be convinced that there are fully diverse recruitment techniques going on, with no conscious or unconscious bias going on. Because if there were, we would see it when we look round the office.

I'm not sure it's stealing when I've suggested it for you to use, Blistory

This is my main frustration, I think - there is such a desire for conformity (I also work in IT) - of education, of opinion as well as of race and gender. To me it's evidence of weak and lazy management - too weak to deal with differences of opinion or style, too lazy to sort out who is disruptive in a good, creative sense and who actually is just a royal pain in the arse. I had the problem of my face not fitting - in the obvious sense of being the wrong gender, and in the less obvious sense of not sharing majority opinions (including on some areas in which I was by far the most knowledgeable - made no difference). I have a real problem with 'traditional male' models of business - as do many of my male colleagues, I might add. If you could, I would put in the advert "bullshitters need not apply".

A friend of mine works for this company in Sweden. They make a big play on the fact that competence has no gender, as you can see from their campaign. The board is one third female and so although there isn't actually one, I would be encouraged by looking at their website's Board photos to see it isn't, yet again, the parade of the middle aged white man.

I'd play up the fact you're looking for well-rounded candidates who can bring diversity - of experience, of opinion, of approaches to problem solving.

I wouldl agree about things on training and flexibility on working patterns as good phrases.

I am sure you know, but you need to watch quite a few of the suggestions on 'life experience' etc as they'll get booted out for possible age discrimination.