Creating Youth Friendly Job Descriptions and Person Specifications

Job Descriptions often come with a list of all of the duties and responsibilities expected to be completed within that job role, some organisations list every single task leaving little room for uncertainty: Office administration: filing of correspondence etc.; recording and dispatching all outgoing mail; recording all incoming mail; answering telephone and passing on messages, maintaining (including ordering) of stationery.

For many young people looking for their first opportunity the list of duties and responsibilities can seem overwhelming. Not because they do not want to do the work, but because some of the responsibilities listed might be unfamiliar. If you are a young person with little or no work experience language like ‘recording and dispatching’ might seem alien.

What the research shows:

It is worth knowing that many young people lack the confidence to apply for a job if they feel that they do not meet all of the criteria. Research conducted by Young Women’s Trust identified that:

• 62% of young women said they would be put off applying for a job if they didn’t meet all the criteria, compared to 54% of young men.
• 67% of young men are confident at applying for a new job, but only 61% of young women are.

As part of their report Young Women’s Trust refereed to this City and Guilds research;  when young women found an application process difficult, 49% said it knocked their confidence and at least a quarter said it made them less likely to apply for other jobs.

For further information on the impact the recruitment process can have on young people read this article from ACAS

If you want to recruit young people based on their talent and potential consider moving away from traditional job descriptions and person specifications. Instead discuss with the team involved with the new role, what sort of person they are looking for, who would fit the dynamics and how important experience and qualifications really will be to the role

Then when you understand the essential skills required you could create a more youth-friendly job description such as:

Youth Employment UK is an organisation working hard to support young people. We are a small friendly team and are looking for a new team member to join us. The person coming into the team will be responsible for the smooth running of our office. You will be someone that is great with people as your job will be to make everyone who calls or visits us feel welcome, you will be well organised with good IT skills as your role will involve supporting the team sending out letters and keeping our records up to date.

Top tips

• Understand what is important to your organisation the right person fit or experiences and qualifications
• Think about all of the brilliant young talent you could bring in a nurture, does your job description encourage applications from young people with additional needs?
• Test the job description with other young staff or young people in a setting such as a youth club, school or college
• Where will you advertise your vacancy, is it somewhere that young people are comfortable with, is it easy to find?
• Understand what a strength based recruitment process is and it that can fit your needs better
• Check your application system, how is accessible to young people, how is it screening applicants
• How do you give feedback to unsuccessful candidates, are you able to signpost them to get help?