One DHS People, Access and Culture · Job aid · How to do it
An eight-stage structure for hiring that tests what the work really requires, opens outreach, uses structured review and interviews, normalizes accommodation, builds bias reflection into deliberation, makes the offer transparent, and examines outcomes stage by stage.
Stage 1. Test essential duties and remove excessive credential barriers. Write down what the job actually requires people to do. For each degree, years-of-experience, or licensure requirement, ask whether it predicts that work or stands in for it. Name credible alternatives such as lived experience, community work, or demonstrated skill.
Stage 2. Expand accessible outreach beyond familiar networks. Post where people outside your usual circles will see it, in plain language, with the salary range and the accommodation statement visible. Ask community partners to share it and tell them how to reach a human.
Stage 3. Use structured review and job-relevant rubrics. Screen every application against the same written criteria tied to the work. Record the reason for each decision so the process can be checked later.
Stage 4. Normalize accommodations without forcing disclosure. Offer accommodation for every stage in the same sentence you use for scheduling. Make the offer to everyone so no one has to identify as disabled to receive it.
Stage 5. Use structured interviews and avoid vague culture fit. Ask every candidate the same core questions tied to the rubric. Replace culture fit with the specific behaviors the team needs, such as working across difference or explaining a decision to a family.
Stage 6. Make bias reflection part of deliberation. Before deciding, have the panel name what impressed them and check it against the rubric. Ask what the panel might be rewarding that is not job related, such as fluency, confidence, or familiarity.
Stage 7. Provide a transparent offer and onboarding. Explain how the salary was set and what advancement requires. Plan the first weeks so a new person knows who to ask and how decisions get made.
Stage 8. Examine stage-by-stage outcomes and improve the process. With your HR partner, look at who applied, who advanced at each stage, and who was hired, at a level that protects small groups. Change the stage where people drop out.
What this is not. This is practice guidance. Selection procedures, classification, labor agreements, and civil-rights obligations are governed by Human Resources, labor relations, and law. Bring this plan to those partners rather than around them.
One DHS People, Access and Culture