Is this requirement job related? A short check before you keep it
A five-question check for any degree, experience, screening, or interview requirement: what work does it predict, what evidence supports that, who does it screen out, what alternative shows the same ability, and who signed off.
Guidance. A practical job aid or checklist from this program. Confirm policy questions with the person responsible for that policy.A practical job aid or checklist from this program. Confirm policy questions with the person responsible for that policy.
Why this matters
Federal guidance on employee selection expects employers to examine procedures that produce adverse impact and to have evidence that they are job related. This check helps you ask those questions before a posting goes out, without removing qualifications the work really needs.
Use the checklist
Question 1. What part of the work does this requirement predict? Write the specific tasks. If you cannot name them, the requirement may be a proxy.
Question 2. What evidence do we have that it predicts that work? Consider whether current strong performers all meet it, and whether people without it have done the work well elsewhere.
Question 3. Who does this requirement screen out? Think about communities, first-generation professionals, people who built skills outside formal education, and people with disabilities who took different paths.
Question 4. What alternative shows the same ability? Consider a work sample, a portfolio, described experience, a certification, or a structured question in the interview.
Question 5. Who reviewed and signed off? Note the hiring manager, the HR partner, and, where practice calls for it, the Equity Director. Keep the reasoning with the posting.
Do not remove qualifications categorically. Some work requires a license or a specific credential. The point is to know what the work genuinely requires and which credible forms of experience demonstrate capability.
