How You May Be Unintentionally Discouraging Creative Job Applicants

Job listings are a reflection of your company. Here’s how to put your best foot forward when attracting applicants.

Your job listings are a reflection of the company, whether you run a large or small arts organization, you’re new on the scene or well-established, and everyone in between. When recruiting for a company, it’s best to review the job description from the perspective of an applicant before posting it. Does the listing exude the tone you would like to portray? Thoughtfully written job descriptions provide a clear impression of the company and what working there might be like. This thoughtfulness will ideally attract similarly thoughtful applicants. Keep reading to learn more about how you can create listings that attract top talent!

Sharing Company Culture

Finding the right employee can be a long process, and it’s a two-way street. Similarly to how you would like job candidates to stand out by submitting thoughtful cover letters, job seekers are looking for thoughtfully written job descriptions that include company culture.

Including your Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) statement is a great way of highlighting your dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Additionally, sharing a bit about your company, your company’s values, and work environment will help your job listing stand out when compared to a similar job posting. The work environment is especially important for in-person positions.

Clarifying Location

According to a survey from Idealist, the one thing job seekers value most is that a company “offers the ability to work remotely.” If you can offer remote or hybrid options, are you leveraging this major benefit to potential employees in your listings?

Everyone has their preferred work environment. Some people may seek fully remote work because the individual knows they work best from home and have minimal distractions. Others crave to be in the office, surrounded by their colleagues and fewer distractions than being at home. In some cases, an individual’s preference is a mix of both. It is no longer obvious that an employee is expected to work in-person.

When creating a NYFA Classifieds job listing, employers are asked “Can the employee work remotely?” and can then select from the following options.

• No
• Yes – Employee must be in a certain city or town
• Yes – Employee must be in a certain country
• Yes – Employee can work from anywhere in the world
• Yes – Hybrid/Temporarily Remote

Job seekers are now able to find organizations that offer the kind of work structure that is best for them.

Staying Safe

For fully-remote roles, you may not need to include your company’s health and safety guidelines. However, if you’re operating in a hybrid or in-person capacity, then it’s important to include.

If your local and state government requires vaccinations, you are well within your rights to say, “vaccination required.” At the same time, it’s beneficial to include the caveat “unless a reasonable accommodation is approved in accordance with applicable law.” Including this legal allowance opens up the conversations surrounding the company’s guidelines regarding mental and physical health, as well as medical restrictions, if applicable.

By not including “unless a reasonable accommodation is approved,” you may inadvertently be discouraging persons of certain religions or persons with disabilities from applying.

Encouraging Wage Transparency

As of October 2022, NYFA Classifieds job listings for on-site, hybrid, and remote roles where the employee must be in New York, New Jersey, or Colorado require salary ranges. Listings for remote roles where the employee can work from anywhere in the United States or anywhere in the world also require salary ranges.

This change is in response to the New York City Council law that mandated salary transparency in job listings, as well as the Pay Transparency Ordinance of Jersey City and the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act in Colorado.

Similar laws, such as providing the salary range upon request, already exist in some states. Providing the salary range up front will help save employers’ time by attracting the right candidate and weeding out those whose expectations don’t match up.

This new law is intended to help correct pay inequalities and discrimination. Demonstrate that your organization values transparency by including a salary range in all of your job listings, even if it is not required.

Questioning Qualifications

Companies are also acknowledging that certain kinds of people are less likely to apply for a role if they believe they are not 100% qualified. In response to this, The Whitney Museum of American Art has included the following language:

“Not sure you meet 100% of our qualifications? Research shows that men apply for jobs when they meet an average of 60% of the criteria. Yet, women and other people who are systematically marginalized tend to only apply if they meet every requirement. If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply. We are dedicated to considering a broad array of candidates, including those with diverse workplace experiences and backgrounds. Whether you’re new to arts and culture administration, returning to work after a gap in employment, simply looking to transition or take the next step in your career path, we will be glad to have you on our radar. Please use your cover letter to tell us about your interest in the arts and culture space and what you hope to bring to this role.”

Fostering Inclusivity

Perhaps a position does not require much writing. Companies are noticing that potentially great employees express themselves better audibly, rather than on paper. Consider the following language (shared by Chelsea Factory) in the application instructions: “If written word is not your best means of self expression, please feel free to create an audio description or video recording.” 

The video-sharing platform TikTok has also altered how job seekers approach their job search. The New York Times shared an article about this called Job-Hunters, Have You Posted Your Resume on TikTok? Video has seeped into both our personal and professional lives. Many recruiters are acknowledging this.

Keeping it Friendly and Personable

At the end of the day, we all want to find the right person or position. By not highlighting your company culture, location expectations, reasonable accommodations, or openness to new ideas, you may be unintentionally discouraging quality candidates from applying. Thoughtfully written job listings are in your organization’s best interest, as the more detailed and intentional you are in your listing, the better the alignment with potential candidates.

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect NYC’s Salary Transparency Law, which went into effect on November 1, 2022. NYFA Classifieds began requiring all NY State-based jobs and all remote roles from anywhere in the United States to include hourly pay or annual salary as of October 17, 2022. ⁠

NYFA Classifieds is the go-to site for artists, arts administrators, and museum professionals seeking jobs and internships, opportunities and services, and event listings and studio spaces. When you advertise with NYFA Classifieds, you are supporting the arts. Find our Media Kit here.

On the job hunt? Find jobs and opportunities on NYFA Classifieds. For other job hunting tips, check out our Monday Motivation posts.