Competition in Applying for Jobs Makes Women Have Many Considerations

A Hewlett-Packard study of internal hiring practices found that men applied for jobs when they met 60 percent of the qualifications. Meanwhile, women only dare to apply if they are 100 percent sure they will get the job.

During the process of applying for jobs, women pay attention to the following points for consideration and assessment:

1. Salary, allowances, and benefits such as flexible work policies, parental leave, access to health, both physical and mental (68%)
2. Qualifications required (57%)
3. Daily duties of the role (50%)
4. Company culture (32%)
5. Women sometimes hold back from applying for jobs because of their perceptions of the recruitment process.

“People who weren’t applying believed they needed the qualifications not to do the job well, but to be hired in the first place. They thought that the required qualifications were… well, required qualifications. They didn’t see the hiring process as one where advocacy, relationships or a creative approach to framing one’s expertise could overcome not having the skills and experiences outlined in the job qualifications, “wrote Tara Sophia Mohr in the Harvard Business Review.

The existence of gender stereotypes also encourages women to refrain from applying for jobs:

1. Lack of confidence and underestimate their abilities.
2. Refrain from expressing ideas, especially when in a male-dominated field.
3. This results in women applying for workers 20% less than men and 16% less likely to apply after seeing the job advertisement. Women are also 26% less likely to ask for referrals even when they have a connection with someone at the hiring company.

To enter into job competition and go beyond the gender stereotypes, women can continue to strive to develop themselves through;

1. Mastering the field of work. Deepen and focus on one area of expertise, to master the field because it has a higher chance of success.
2. Confident. There is no need to be afraid to compete if you have the ability or want to learn abilities in that field.
3. Continue to learn and develop yourself. Learning can be from own experience, short classes, or learning from the experiences of others such as attending discussions or seminars.
4. Creative and proactive. Follow growing trends to get inspiration and new ideas that can contribute to performance or achievement. Don’t forget to be proactive in conveying these ideas.
5. Join the Community to expand the network by meeting many people who have the same goals, thereby increasing self-confidence & insight.
6. Continue to introspect yourself. Never stop self-introspection, analyze every job, how to do your job, don’t waste valuable time by repeating mistakes because you forget to introspect yourself.

Source:

Gender Insight Report, Linkedin, 2018, https://business.linkedin.com

https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/how-gender-stereotypes-less-than-br-greater-than-kill-a-woman-s-less-than-br-greater-than-self-confidence

https://abcnews.go.com

Photo created by www.freepik.com

Tiara Tri Hapsari

24 May 2021