Redwood Technology Solutions | August 22, 2024
Published August 22, 2024
Diversity Outreach Starts With Relationships
Job boards help employers reach active candidates, but they are only one part of a thoughtful recruiting strategy. Community organizations can connect employers with people who may not encounter a posting, recognize their qualifications in its language, or know how to navigate the application process.
For employers looking to broaden access to opportunities, the goal is not simply to distribute more job links. It is to build relationships that make recruiting more accessible, responsive, and useful to the communities they hope to reach.
Find Partners With Shared Goals
Start by identifying organizations whose work overlaps with your hiring needs and geographic footprint. A local workforce organization may help candidates prepare for interviews, while a community college may offer training relevant to your open positions.
Potential partners include:
- Community colleges, adult education programs, and vocational schools
- Workforce development centers and nonprofit employment programs
- Veterans’ transition and career support organizations
- Disability employment organizations and vocational rehabilitation providers
- Neighborhood associations and community resource centers
- Professional associations serving historically underrepresented communities
Research each organization before reaching out. Understand whom it serves, what support it provides, and whether your openings offer a realistic fit. A smaller number of active partnerships is often more useful than a long contact list that receives occasional mass emails.
Lead With Listening
Ask partners what their participants need from employers. They may identify unclear job requirements, transportation barriers, difficult application steps, or scheduling concerns that your recruiting team has overlooked.
Share practical information in return: job locations, work schedules, essential qualifications, compensation details when available, and the application process. Give partners enough context to help candidates make informed decisions.
Make the First Conversation Specific
Instead of requesting access to a participant list, propose a brief conversation about one relevant hiring need. For example, an employer seeking entry-level maintenance technicians could ask a vocational program which skills its students practice and whether the employer’s listed experience requirements accurately reflect the work.
Agree on a manageable next step, such as sharing a plain-language job summary or scheduling a recruiter question-and-answer session. Respect the partner’s capacity; community organizations should not be expected to function as unpaid recruiting departments.
Turn Outreach Into an Ongoing Practice
A partnership should not disappear when a requisition closes. Assign an internal relationship owner and establish a communication schedule that works for both sides.
Consider offering application walkthroughs, career information sessions, or recruiter office hours. Keep these activities focused on useful guidance rather than promises of employment. Candidates should understand how to apply and what to expect, while hiring decisions remain grounded in consistent, job-related criteria.
Close the Feedback Loop
Let partners know when openings change or close. Ask whether candidates encountered technical problems or confusing instructions. Where appropriate, share aggregate outcomes without disclosing personal candidate information.
Track more than the number of emails sent. Useful measures include partner engagement, referrals, completed applications, and progression through the hiring process. Review results to improve access and communication—not to assume that every organization will produce the same volume of applicants.
Use a Repeatable Outreach Checklist
Before sending an opening to partners, confirm that your team has:
- Separated essential qualifications from skills that can be learned after hiring
- Verified that the application link works on a mobile device
- Explained shift expectations, work location, and any required travel
- Identified a contact for application questions and accommodation requests
- Assigned responsibility for answering referrals and updating partners
If referrals arrive but applications remain incomplete, investigate the application experience before asking partners to send more people. A confusing account-creation step or unclear document requirement may be creating avoidable friction.
Connect Community Outreach With Recruiting Operations
Community relationships work best alongside a coordinated posting and sourcing plan. Job boards, Craigslist job posting, resume search, manual job posting, and recruitment media buying can support visibility while partner outreach adds context and human connection.
Keep job descriptions, application links, and closing dates consistent across channels. Recruitment process outsourcing can also help coordinate outreach tasks, maintain follow-up schedules, and reduce administrative gaps.
Coordinate Channels Without Duplicating Effort
Maintain a shared outreach calendar showing posting dates, partner communications, information sessions, and planned follow-ups. For a warehouse hiring campaign, for example, a recruiter might align local postings with a workforce center’s career session so candidates receive current information wherever they first encounter the opportunity.
Use a consistent source-tracking method, while recognizing that candidates may encounter several channels before applying. Ask for feedback without requiring unnecessary personal details, and avoid attributing every application to a single interaction when the path is uncertain.
Keep Compliance Documentation Practical
For employers with federal contractor obligations, community outreach may support broader affirmative action efforts, but it does not automatically replace applicable job-listing, posting, or recordkeeping requirements. Maintain organized records of outreach activities and evaluate effectiveness as appropriate. Confirm specific obligations with qualified compliance or legal advisors.
An outreach log can capture the organization contacted, date, relevant openings, activity completed, feedback received, and next action. Keep documentation factual and follow applicable retention and privacy requirements. Record what your team actually did rather than treating a contact list as evidence of an active partnership.
Contact Redwood Technology Solutions to discuss how community outreach can complement your recruitment process outsourcing, job posting, sourcing, media buying, and OFCCP compliance job posting needs.
