As a business owner, you know it’s important for your job postings to really convey the type of candidate you’re searching for. You likely get a lot of people applying for jobs who are not in any way qualified. You want to try to prevent that by making your job postings very accurate.
But it’s important to be careful with exactly what you put in these job postings. Some wording can be problematic and you could be accused of discrimination. This may be completely unintentional, but it’s still important to understand that it can happen.
Recent college graduates
Perhaps one of the best examples of this is that some companies have made postings saying that they want to hire recent college graduates.
In terms of making your posting specific, this may make sense. You’re looking for someone who just graduated and has a current understanding of technology, trends and the industry that your business is in. You want to be sure that they’ve graduated and are well-educated, and you also want them to bring a level of energy and excitement to your workforce.
But even if this feels like an appropriate job posting, you could be accused of age discrimination. Someone who is 40 years old or older likely graduated from college a few decades ago. Does asking for a recent college graduate imply that you only want to hire someone in their 20s? A person who is in their 40s and still has all of the same skills and qualifications may feel that they are being discriminated against because they won’t get the job over a young person who just got out of college. This could be a form of illegal discrimination.
If you do find yourself facing these accusations, it’s very important to take them seriously and to understand all the legal options you have.