Outreach

Outreach is the effort taken to encourage prospective applicants to apply for a position. Activities involved in this process include writing the job ad and pursuing multiple opportunities to expose that job ad to diverse populations. It is essential to outreach in a multi-faceted manner to enrich the overall talent pool and potentially yield more applicants. Below are the outreach efforts for you to consider in your search.

GREATER WASHINGTON STATE HIGHER EDUCATION RECRUITMENT CONSORTIUM (GWS HERC)

GWS HERC is one of eighteen regional chapters of a national non-profit association of colleges, universities, non-profit organizations, and research institutes focused on increasing access to talented and diverse applicant pools and working collaboratively in cases of dual-career hiring. GWS HERC launched in October 2013 and provides free resources to jobseekers searching for faculty, staff, and executive career opportunities. The University of Washington is a leading member organization of the GWS HERC.

GWS HERC member organizations are able to post all faculty and staff positions to the HERC job board. All UW faculty and staff positions automatically post to the HERC job board on a nightly basis. Jobseekers actively review these positions, and during the most recent one-year period for which data were collected, jobs posted to GWS HERC generated over 2.6 million jobseeker views. For more details on GWS HERC, visit their website.

SOCIAL & PROFESSIONAL NETWORKS

When you have limited time and little or no budget, one of the best ways you can reach your target audience is by leveraging your personal network. Start with established university networks: campus affinity groups, your unit’s diversity committee, and alumni organizations. Post to the MOSAIC Listserv, which has been operating since 1995 and features information about diversity, events, jobs, and issues related to diversity in the Pacific Northwest and abroad. If you are well networked within diverse communities, send postings to listservs, Facebook groups, and your LinkedIn page. Track your results to see how effective your efforts are and to gauge which of these channels yields the best results. One great tool for tracking how many people have seen a post is using bitlinks. While not a precise measure (i.e. one person viewing a post multiple times will inflate your numbers), you are at least able to assess what is effective within the various places you post information.

JOB BOARDS & ADVERTISING

Positions that are higher-level, require a national reach, or that necessitate highly specialized qualifications may warrant investing in advertising via job boards. These boards typically post an open position for a minimum of thirty days and require a significant monetary investment (avg. $250 – $300). However, the visibility might be worth the investment. Additionally, some of the boards ‘cross-post’, so you may automatically reach a broader audience by making a strategic selection from these options.

More resources are available by clicking on the following links:

• Diversity Recruiting Web Sites
• Higher Education Specific Web Sites
• Other/Industry Specific Web Sites