.png "Tips for Inclusive Hiring")
Kat Botelho
September 11, 2025
Newsletter ArticleInclusive hiring is more than a buzzword; it’s a strategic hiring practice that will shape the future of the workforce. As organizations strive to build diverse teams, inclusive hiring ensures that candidates of all backgrounds have equal opportunities in the workplace. However, inclusion isn’t just a strategy; it’s a value, and approaching it as such will ensure effective inclusive hiring practices.
Why it matters
Before developing a strategy, it’s important to look inwards and reflect on why inclusive hiring matters to the business. Each organization must define what inclusion means to them and why it is important. Do some research; learn more about the challenges faced by underrepresented or minority groups, and brainstorm how your organization can combat those issues.
Employer brand & leadership
From there, the next step is introducing inclusion into all aspects of the employer brand. Starting at the top, leaders must genuinely care about inclusion to create an authentic workplace. Diversify your leadership; having different perspectives at the top naturally leads to building a more inclusive workplace. Once you’ve embedded inclusion into your company culture, it’s time to develop a strategy for hiring.
The job posting
A job post is a candidate's first introduction to your company, so it’s important to create these job postings with inclusion and accessibility in mind. Keep it simple, use short, brief paragraphs and plain language so it is easy to understand. Make sure that the language you’re using is inclusive to everyone. That means leaving out industry jargon, gendered or age-related terms and phrases that could unconsciously target certain ethnic or religious backgrounds. Emphasize job responsibilities instead of requirements unless necessary, and clearly state what skills are a must-have and what skills are just nice to have.
Consider the font you use in your job postings, and ensure the size and colours are easy to read. Keep bold, italics and underlined text to a minimum to avoid overwhelming the reader or distracting from the content. Incorporate downloadable media or videos as an alternative method for viewing the posting. You might even want to include a statement about the company’s commitment to inclusion. These factors can be the difference between someone hitting apply or someone scrolling away.
Resumes & interviews
When reading resumes, consider using an anonymous review system. This means removing names and identifying organizations to keep the focus on the candidate's skills. This brings us to the interview process. You’ll need to assemble a diverse group to make up the interview panel; different perspectives will lead to different opinions and more inclusive hiring. Train this team about unconscious bias so they can check their biases during the interview process. Develop a standardized set of interview questions and a scoring system that makes sense for your organization. This will make sure all candidates are being measured equally. Offer flexible interview options for candidates, such as virtual, asynchronous or multi-stage interviews to best fit their needs.
At the end of the day, inclusive hiring isn’t a one-and-done strategy. It is an ongoing and conscious commitment to ensure that candidates of all backgrounds feel they have equal opportunities in the workplace. For more hiring tips, visit the AgCareers Employer Resource Library.
