Good Faith Hiring

Requirements: separate must-haves from nice-to-haves

Commitment 4 of 8GFH-E4 and GFH-C4Draft 1
Employers GFH-E4

Separate must-haves from nice-to-haves

List the few things the job really needs, written as skills, and mark the rest as optional. Accept other evidence of the same skill, and only turn people down on the must-haves.

Five must-haves at most, each one needed to do the job.

What counts

  • No more than 5 must-haves, labelled as must-haves.
  • Each must-have is needed to do the job, and is written as a skill. No years of experience, and no particular degree unless the law requires one for the role.
  • No "native speaker" wording. Say the level of English, or other language, the job needs.
  • People are only turned down for not meeting a must-have.
Candidates GFH-C4

Meet the must-haves

Apply when you meet every must-have. Nice-to-haves are optional. If a disability means you'd meet a must-have in a different way, apply and say so.

Every must-have met, or met another way.

What counts

  • You meet every must-have, or a disability means you'd meet one in a different way and you say so.

Why it matters

Long wish-lists put good people off, and they put off some groups more than others. Meanwhile, people who meet none of the must-haves apply anyway, because the list doesn’t look serious. A short, honest list fixes both.

For employers

Write down what the job really needs on day one, and stop at five. Everything else goes under “nice to have”, clearly labelled.

Write each must-have as a skill. “Can build and maintain REST APIs in Python” tells people what you need. “5+ years’ Python” and “Computer Science degree” don’t, and they rule out people who learned the same skills another way. They also carry age, race and disability risk under the Equality Act. Ask for a particular qualification only where the law requires one for the role.

Accept other evidence of the same skill: open-source work, a bootcamp, a previous job with a different title.

Don’t ask for a “native” speaker. Say the level of English or another language the job actually needs.

Only turn people down for missing a must-have. If someone meets all five, they deserve a proper look.

For candidates

Read the must-haves and be honest with yourself. If you meet all of them, apply, even if you meet none of the nice-to-haves. That’s what they’re for.

If you’re missing a must-have, skip it, unless a disability means you’d meet it a different way. For example, the job needs “clear written communication” and you’d use dictation software to do it. Then apply and say so. Employers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments.

Questions

Isn’t five too few? For most jobs, five covers what’s truly needed. If you need more, the job may be two jobs.

What if an advert has no must-haves labelled? Then it doesn’t meet this commitment. Treat the most specific items as the must-haves and use your judgement.

Think this should say something different?

Suggest a change in GitHub Discussions or email hello@goodfaithhiring.co.uk. Please don't name employers or people.