How to (Actually) Attract Candidates from Underrepresented Groups
By Shantelle King
Diverse teams bring a wider range of perspectives, foster innovation, and better reflect the customers, communities, and underrepresented groups they represent.
It’s important for business owners and senior management teams to clearly define why ED&I matters to the businesses’ growth and overall proposition before they start looking for new talent – otherwise, there’s no real strategy driving the effort.
At our recent Corecom LeadersLab “How Do We Fix the Tech Leadership Pipeline?” event, ED&I Consultant at RiverRoad, Antoinette Willcocks, emphasised the importance of genuine inclusion in teams.
“The main area where businesses go wrong is not being able to articulate why ED&I is important to them. If you don’t, you’ll end up with a shopping list of things, but none of that really speaks to why ED&I is important to you or your business. Giving some thought to the compelling why is key.”
Yet despite growing awareness, many organisations still continue to face challenges in reaching and engaging talent from underrepresented backgrounds. So, to support meaningful progress, we’ve created five practical tips to help employers integrate ED&I into their recruitment strategies and attract diverse talent more effectively.
1. Review and Update Your Job Ads
Language is important. Job descriptions should be inclusive, jargon-free, and without the use of any unconscious bias. Avoid overly aggressive language or criteria that could discourage applicants from underrepresented groups who don’t necessarily “tick every box”.
2. Expand Where You Recruit
Try not to rely solely on the same platforms or networks. Partner with community organisations, universities, and networks that actively support helping underrepresented groups in tech.
To expand even wider, attend career fairs, diversity-driven networking events, and engage with specialist recruitment consultancies, like Corecom Consulting, who can help and support with your ED&I goals.
3. Reassess Your Hiring Process
Consider blind CV screening to reduce bias. Structured interviews and diverse hiring panels can also help create a more balanced and fair assessment process. Invest in training your hiring teams on inclusive recruitment practices.
4. Review Your Internal Policies and Progress
Regularly review internal policies around flexible working, parental leave, pay equity, and progression to ensure they support inclusion. Monitor diversity metrics and act on feedback from your current (and past) employees.
5. Build The Team You Want To Attract
Simply put, you need to lead by example. Before applying for roles, candidates look for representation at all levels, especially in senior roles. Seeing diverse leaders inspires candidates to picture themselves as part of your company.
At Corecom Consulting, we’re committed to helping our clients build diverse, high-performing teams. We believe that inclusive hiring is a much-needed mindset shift – and we are actively on a mission to help businesses create equitable opportunities and foster truly inclusive workplaces.
For expert guidance on inclusive hiring or support with attracting diverse talent, speak to our Associate Director and ED&I Ambassador, Dom Brown.
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Corecom is well deserving of this award which places it in fine company with a small elite of other organisations that truly understand and engage the value of people. They place a high commitment on continually developing the business, demonstrated through the passion and enthusiasm of everyone from the MD to the team members. The innovation culture is evident throughout and employees have lots of ideas for successful change. They say that they are listened to and believe that Corecom is a great place to work, with very high levels of trust both upwards and down. People see that it has a great future and there are excellent levels of optimism throughout.
