Plan your recruitment

Planning and attracting the right people is the first stage of the recruitment process.

If you do this well, you’re more likely to find someone:

with the right skills and experience
with values that align to the Victorian public sector
who wants to make the most of the position
who will support a safe and healthy workplace culture.

Step 1: Design the position

Before you can attract bicultural workers to apply for a job, you need to design what their role will be.

This will help you to:

create a position description
identify the key selection criteria
target your advertising
write effective interview questions
design a well-defined recruitment process.

What you can use to help you design a position

Answer these questions

How will the role support your team and your organisation to achieve its goals?

What skills, experience, education, values and attributes the role must have versus what you would like to have?

What level of community engagement and services do you provide to people from different cultural backgrounds that they will support?

Will you use a special measure to restrict the role to someone from a specific cultural background?

What kinds of risks would you associate with the role?

Check the capability framework and VPS agreement

Use the Victorian Public Service (VPS) Capability Framework to help you work out what capabilities you need for the role.

Use classification and value range descriptors in the VPS Enterprise Agreement to work out what grade and value range a position is.

Your organisation may have its own frameworks for roles. Check with your people and culture team to find out.

If you don’t work in the VPS or if a different agreement covers your organisation, get advice from your people and culture team.

Consider using a special measure

In some cases, you can use a special measure to restrict roles.

You can only restrict roles based on the protected attributes in the Equal Opportunity Act 2010.

There are 3 types of special measures you can use.

Prioritised position: Anyone can apply but you’ll assess and shortlist candidates from your special measure group first.
Designated position: Only people from your special measure group can apply.
Identified position: Anyone can apply but you strongly encourage people from a group to apply (this doesn’t have to be a special measure position).

Read our guide to hiring with special measures in the public sector to find out more.

Define your key selection criteria

Key selection criteria (KSC) are a set of standards or requirements you can use to evaluate and pick a bicultural worker for a job.

The Victorian Public Service (VPS) Capability Framework defines the capabilities the VPS workforce requires to achieve our objectives now and into the future.

You can use it to help you write your KSC but be mindful when you use it for bicultural worker roles.

Some bicultural workers experience employment barriers that stop them from applying for or getting a job.

So don’t ask for KSC that could be discriminatory or exclude anyone suitable from applying. For example, don’t ask for a level of education that’s not required to do the job well.

Each KSC should focus on one thing and be measurable. Be clear about what the bicultural worker must have versus what would be nice to have.

You can ask them to describe their:

qualifications and education
professional experience
lived experience as relevant to the role
knowledge and skills
personal qualities and values
performance and past achievements.

Here are some examples of KSC for a bicultural worker:

Understands the community’s culture and can navigate cultural differences and sensitivities.
Has shared lived experience with the community and understands their culture, tradition, values and experiences.
Can speak English and another language commonly spoken in the community.
Can communicate well with people from diverse backgrounds.
Can advocate on behalf of the community and support them to use complex systems and services.
Has empathy, understands the community’s experiences and can build trust with them.
Can identify problems, navigate systems and find solutions for a community’s needs.
Can manage competing demands and organise work effectively
Can adapt to changing circumstances and is open to learning new skills and ways of doing things.
Can work collaboratively with colleagues and stakeholders to achieve common goals and improve outcomes for the community.

Step 2: Write a position description

A position description explains to a bicultural worker what the job is and what skills they need.

It will help you:

attract bicultural workers with the skills and cultural understanding you need in that role
review applications and shortlist bicultural workers that apply.

Some bicultural workers won’t apply for a role if they don’t meet all the criteria.

Clearly explain what skills, experience and qualifications a bicultural worker must have versus what would be nice to have.

For example, we interviewed some bicultural workers to find out why they haven’t applied for a job with the Victorian Government.

They told us:

the job descriptions were too hard to understand and made them feel like they wouldn’t be considered for the job.
the application process was too long and confusing
the pressure of travelling to the city and having to work full-time was a barrier.

Tips to write a position description

A position description shouldn’t include every task you can think of.

Only include enough information to provide a realistic preview of the position.

Do use:

clear, concise and plain language
short sentences as long sentences can be hard to read if there are a lot of them
inclusive language
bullet points to break down the job requirements
translations if possible
a word document in an accessible format for uploading – and have other formats available on request.

Don’t use:

slang or colloquial language
acronyms or abbreviations that are specific to your industry or organisation
government or industry-specific jargon. If it’s needed, provide an explanation.

Position description template

Use this template to help you write a position description.

Sample job descriptions and resources

cohealth’s bicultural worker position description
Bicultural brilliance toolkit by enliven
Skills and professional attributes – Australia’s bilingual and bicultural workforce report.

Step 3: Planning your recruitment process

Questions to answer

When you answer these questions, think about the employment barriers bicultural workers face.

For example, can you consider overseas qualifications? Can they submit a video resume instead of a written one?

How will applicants be screened?

What documents will they need to submit? For example, a cover letter, resume or responses to key selection criteria.
Will they need proof of their qualifications? Can you be flexible and recognise overseas qualifications?
Do they need examples of their work?

How will applicants be shortlisted?

Who will be on your selection panel?
If you asked for key selection criteria, will you shortlist candidates based on all or some of them?
Will you interview all shortlisted candidates?
Who will write the interview questions?

How will you make the process fair and accessible?

How will you explain and offer workplace adjustments?
Is the application process accessible and equitable?
Are documents provided in accessible formats?
Do you have people from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences on your selection panel?
Is your selection panel reflective of the diversity of candidates you want to attract?
Have you offered accessible options and adjustments for the interview?

Step 4: Advertise the position

Use your position description as the foundation for writing your advertisement.

A good job advertisement:

is specific about what tasks the bicultural worker will do
focuses on what skills the bicultural worker needs to have and not what’s nice to have
outlines the values and motivations required by the organisation, the team and the position
outlines the skills and experience needed
doesn’t ask about personal qualities that would be hard for the bicultural worker to demonstrate or ‘prove’ in an application or interview
doesn’t use jargon or complex language
has a statement about diversity and inclusion.

You need to have a contact person listed on your job advertisement who can:

answer questions about the position, team and organisation
offer and explain what adjustments are available for people who need them
offer people information in different formats if they need it
be reached by email, phone, SMS and the National Relay Service.

Job advertisement template

Use this template to help you advertise your position.

Step 5: Support candidates through the application process

How you treat bicultural workers when they apply for a job will affect what they think of you, your organisation and the public sector.

Remember, bicultural workers already face barriers working in government such as:

cultural bias and prejudice
language barriers
identity struggles – feeling torn between 2 cultural backgrounds
lack of representation
cultural norms and work practices
discrimination
promotion and advancement opportunities.

If a bicultural worker asks for something to make the process fairer or sees a problem, work with them to adjust your recruitment process.

For some adjustments, you may need to offer the same adjustment to others.

For some adjustments, you don’t need to offer everyone the same. For example, if one person and needs an Auslan interpreter, this doesn’t mean everyone will.

Speak to your people and culture team for advice on this.

For all applicants, you should:

explain each step of the recruitment process either over the phone or by email.
make it clear that adjustments are available for anyone who needs them.
talk to and work with candidates to make the process fair and inclusive.