“I would love to be part of a tenacious group of professionals who strive to support the talent of tomorrow.”
TLC Programmes and Marketing Assistant candidate 2023
Today, TLC closed a job application that has been open for the last five weeks, recruiting a new role into the staff team: a Programmes and Marketing Assistant. This is an entry level, part-time, remote role, open to candidates based anywhere in the UK.
We thought it might be helpful to share some of our insights into the process, from the point of view of an employer.
Before we dive into the data, we would like to make a nod to two organisations who have been instrumental in both the recruitment process and in putting together this blog. Firstly, 64 Million Artists, whom we look to as a beacon of best practice for inclusive HR. Secondly, Unlimited, whose post ‘How to Recruit Diverse Candidates during the ‘Great Resignation’’ inspired this one.
There is a long standing tradition at TLC of seeking out examples of best practice in the field. We hope this post might be of interest to any job-seekers hoping to cut their teeth in the literature, publishing, author services, or general creative industries.
Please do look out for Part Two, coming soon, in which we share our Top Tips for Literature Job-Seekers, based on our applications for this post.
Who applied?
Over an open recruitment period of five weeks, we received 556 applications. 553 of these were in the form of covering letters (we did not look at CVs for this role), with 2 video applications and 1 audio application. We added this option as a way to ensure that those unable to submit a covering letter for access reasons could still apply.
Ahead of the deadline, we also had 17 one-to-ones with interested candidates, who could book using a Calendly form for a confidential pre-application chat.
399 of the applying candidates filled our our optional, completely anonymised Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form (72%).
Ages
The majority of our applying candidates were in the 20-34 bracket (84%). Followed by candidates aged 35-49 (12.5%), and with 2% over the age of 60 and 1.25% under the age of 19.
Ethnicity
67% of applying candidates identified as White with 54% identifying as White British and 13% as White Other (including Irish, Traveller, and European).
8.5% of applying candidates identified as Black.
11.5% of applying candidates identified as Asian.
9% identified as Mixed (including Mixed-Black and Mixed-Asian).
2% identified as coming from another non-White ethnic group.
This means that 31% of our applicants were global majority applicants.
Gender
77% of applying candidates were women (including trans women).
15% were men (including trans men).
5% identified as non binary.
Disability
We were particularly interested in ensuring that disabled candidates felt able to apply to this role, and were encouraged to see that 23% of applicants identified as disabled.
23% identified as neurodivergent.
Intersections and Marginalisation
We also asked if candidates considered themselves marginalised in any other way. 14% responded ‘Yes’. Their reasons included:
Gender, illness, class, caring responsibilities, financial position, single parenting, age, sexuality, gender identity, immigration, CV disclosure (not knowing whether to disclose sex work), racism, lack of access opportunities, lack of support, not living in London/the South East.
Sexuality
38% of candidates identified as LGBTQ+.
Class
47% of candidates identified as working class, with a secondary question identifying the job status of the candidates’ primary caregiver when they were 14, to further explore the question of socio-economic identity.
Inclusive Practice
TLC shared in its Job Pack that we particularly welcome applications from disabled and chronically ill applicants who might benefit from the flexibility of a remote and part-time role. We also made it possible to apply by video or audio instead of by covering letter, and we eliminated CVs from the application process entirely. No formal education is needed for this post and this was also made clear in our Job Pack. The ad was shared with various groups, networks and platforms which we hoped would ensure it reached as diverse a pool of candidates as possible, including via Creative Access and with partners Shape Arts and the Society of Authors’ ADCI group, and CIADISH Magazine.
Shortlisting
Since our Equal Opportunities Monitoring form is anonymous and optional rather than mandatory, it has not been possible to introduce positive discrimination into our shortlisting process, however we are committed to ensuring that we select a shortlist that represents and includes:
- Candidates who would genuinely benefit from an entry-level opportunity regardless of previous experience
- A proportion of candidates who live outside of London and the South East in recognition of the rarity of literature posts outside of these regions
- Disabled and global majority candidates.
Our next step will be shortlisting candidates who will attend a 45-minute online interview. We are very much looking forward to welcoming a new TLC team member, and would like to thank all of the candidates who applied for this post. All candidates will receive an email to let them know if they have been selected for interview or not by the end of this week, and all shortlisted candidates will be given the option for feedback.
Please do look out for Part Two, in which we share our Top Tips for Literature Job-Seekers, coming soon. Whilst we cannot offer individual feedback to non-shortlisted candidates given the high volume compared to the small number of staff, we hope that compiling a post of insights and tips based on these applications might be helpful.
