Trauma Informed Recruitment

Originally published 21 November 2023, by Darren Flynn

It is a non-controversial observation to acknowledge the recruitment process is often a fraught and stressful experience for many applicants. It might be less universally acknowledged though that the process of looking and applying for jobs can cause applicants to experience or re-experience trauma. If we consider the wider contextual experience a candidate has this can become more apparent. Typical recruitment practices can involve activities that might be experienced as traumatic by some; giving presentations, feeling assessed, judged or interrogated and experiencing cycles of hope and rejection. The candidate has to reveal deeply personal information (their background, education, job history) and will be judged on it by a stranger. They might have to discuss past work experiences that were deeply negative, whilst also attempting to put a positive spin on those experiences in order to maintain the positive and professional front that’s generally expected of people being interviewed. They might have to disclose further information to a stranger; disabilities, neurodivergence, medical history, caring responsibilities etc. while being unsure of how these will be seen by the recruiting manager. Finally, the wider employment and life context can be considered. The candidate might have experienced negative recruitment practices in the past and have experienced multiple rejections. The job you’re recruiting for might have particular significance to them as it holds the opportunity to move away from negative work, economic and home circumstances; a new job can hold out the promise of a real change in someone’s circumstances. 

If we acknowledge that recruitment exists as a site of potential (re)trauma, then we also have a responsibility to make actions that might avoid, alleviate or manage potentially traumatic aspects of the process

If we acknowledge that recruitment exists as a site of potential (re)trauma, then we also have a responsibility to make actions that might avoid, alleviate or manage potentially traumatic aspects of the process. One approach could be to use the principles of Trauma Informed Care (TIC) when designing recruitment processes and activities. TIC originates from healthcare settings, but its use has expanded widely to include social work, legal, hospice and educational settings. A range of different TIC frameworks and approaches exist but the fundamental principles are to develop empathetic and holistic policies and procedures and empower users and reduce the uneven balance of power between service and client. Fallot & Harris (2009) provide a useful framework by which to evaluate and develop TIC that can be useful when thinking about recruitment. This contains six core values to consider: safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration and empowerment. The following are some brief descriptions of each value and suggestions on how we might apply these to library recruitment processes.  

Safety: creating an environment that feels physically and psychologically safe. 

• Being transparent about all activities involved in the recruitment process. Sharing information on what assessment activities will be included and what parameters these have (prep time, presentation time etc.) 

• Giving realistic and achievable tasks and if in any doubt road test them with colleagues (i.e. not asking candidates to present a 10 year library strategy in 5 minutes!) 

• Consider the physical environment and logistics. Will the candidate be left waiting to enter the interview room in a busy environment where they feel exposed? Do they have privacy to collect themselves before the interview? Has sufficient time been given between interview elements for comfort breaks.  

• Never using unseen assessments like presentations where the topic isn’t given until immediately before.

Trustworthiness: being clear and transparent with the candidate so they can trust you.

• Sending out an applicant pack to those invited to interview including information on working days/hours, flexible working information, dept. and team structure, locations etc. Practical information such as public transport, parking, campus maps etc. is also really useful.  

• Providing info on who is doing the interviewing in your pack. A photo of each panel member and a short bio with how they relate to the role can be helpful. Include photographs of the building, the location where they’ll be met and a photograph of who will be meeting them. 

• Don’t just rely on HR to send out emails, particularly where they are automated and/or impersonal. A personal email from the panel chair welcoming them to the interview, providing information and inviting candidates to ask questions helps establish trust and communication.

Choice: giving candidates ownership and choice in the process wherever possible.

• Offer a choice of interview dates and times. Consider giving first refusal to applicants on a needs-basis; does anyone have specific needs (childcare, transport, disabilities etc.) that mean they’re likely to perform better at particular times or would find attendance easier; a single parent might be less likely to perform well if the only remaining slot is 9am and they’ve had a stressful morning with school drop-offs. Similarly, a disabled candidate might prefer a midday slot where public transport options are less crowded.

• Give explicit choices about tasks and/or presentation topics (making clear their choice doesn’t affect scoring). If for example you want to know about strategy, give options to focus on short, medium or long term. Or to give a presentation on teaching, collections or liaison work.

• Ask candidates how they want to be contacted with the outcome (phone, email, text). Don’t give feedback with the outcome but ask them what format they want (verbal or written) and when they want it. Attach feedback as a document (rather than in main text) so they can choose when they’re ready to read it. 

Collaboration: facilitating two-way discussion between candidate and recruiter

• Reconsider ‘standard’ interview formats; presentations and panel interviews tend to be one-directional. Instead you might invite candidates to bring a teaching plan, report or strategy document that can be discussed collaboratively between the candidate and panel. 

• Don’t leave ‘do you have any questions for us’ until the end where they feel tacked on (and the candidate is likely to be feeling tired). These could be front-loaded or interspersed throughout to make the interview more conversational. You can relieve some pressure by inviting candidates to submit their questions in advance.  

Empowerment: sharing power in the recruitment process with candidates

• Provide interview questions in advance. Emphasize in communications that applicants are welcome to bring and use any notes they’ve made with them to the interview and that this will be viewed positively. 

• Provide info on the job role that goes beyond a simple job description/person spec. These documents are generally the same for everyone with that job title even though there can be significant differences in responsibilities, e.g. a health subject librarian often has significantly more teaching than an engineering one. A % breakdown of responsibilities is really useful. 

• Provide the information on key tasks for the individual role, e.g. # hours teaching in previous year, number of tutorial appointments. You can also go further and state explicitly which elements of the job you’ll be particularly looking for or are important.

• Give candidates a question with a chance to shine and discuss something of personal interest to them. Questions about professional development goals, a project they’d like to do or research they’d like to undertake can prompt a really engaging conversation.

• Actively invite applicants (successful or not) to provide feedback on your recruitment processes. Asking specific questions on different aspects might be more likely to garner a meaningful response.

These are some ideas of practices that I either use myself or have seen others use. Importantly for us in libraries, most if not all of these examples are things that are within the control of the recruiting manager to do themselves. The broader recruitment experience undoubtedly needs reform but acknowledging that while changing the aspects we can is a step forward.