New data shows the positive impact of contextual recruitment tools on social mobility. Naomi Kellman from Rare Technology and ISE Board Director shares key findings as well as the steps employers can make to get ahead.
ISE’s recent EDI survey revealed that contextual recruitment tools were rated the most effective selection approach for EDI – with 80% of employers that use them rating them as effective.
However, only 33% of employers reported using contextual recruitment tools in the survey, suggesting scope for improved understanding, and increased adoption, of contextual recruitment tools.
While sample sizes were relatively small in this particular survey, these findings suggest that employers with experience of contextual recruitment widely regard it as an effective way to support EDI outcomes.
What is contextual recruitment?
Contextual recruitment tools help employers to improve social mobility by putting the achievements of candidates in context.
For example, the tools can highlight that a candidate has secured their achievements whilst attending a low performing school, being eligible for free school meals or spending time in local authority care.
This contextual data enables recruiters to focus on potential, not polish. It also highlights grit and resilience.
Rare Technology introduced contextual recruitment to early careers in 2015 with the launch of the Rare Contextual Recruitment System (CRS). This year we published a report on the impact of contextual recruitment data on social mobility in early careers over the past decade.
Key findings
The CRS has changed who gets hired by employers
- Analysis of thousands of applications from the 2024-25 recruitment cycle revealed that candidates identified as socially mobile by the CRS had offer rates in line with average offer rates
- As candidates from lower socio-economic backgrounds often have lower offer rates, this data suggests that employers who carefully use contextual data at the start of their application processes successfully widen their interview pool
- A more inclusive pipeline results in socially mobile candidates – who would have otherwise been missed – having the opportunity to demonstrate their potential at interview and receive an offer.
School outreach is effective and must continue
- Employers using the CRS have invested significantly in outreach over the past decade
- This investment has paid off, with the proportion of applications generated by state schools outside of the top-performing 10% increasing by 76%
- A number of state-funded sixth form colleges have risen to the top of the list of schools producing the most applications to employers using the CRS.
Applicants from rural, coastal and deprived areas are underrepresented
- Despite positive gains from outreach, it is still the case that the majority of applications to employers using the CRS come from London, the South East and the East of England, even when adjusting for population size
- The number of applications from the most advantaged postcodes is almost twice that of the number from the most disadvantaged postcodes
- This confirms the importance of continued investment in employer outreach efforts outside of London and the South East.
6 ways employers can get ahead in social mobility with contextual recruitment
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Don’t count yourself out of contextual recruitment
- Employers sometimes assume that contextual recruitment tools can only work for large organisations with large intakes or for employers in specific sectors. This isn’t true
- The Rare Contextual Recruitment System is used by a range of employers, including small employers with hundreds of applications each year, and large employers with tens of thousands of applications each year.
- Use contextual data to widen your interview pool
- Contextual data can be really helpful when you are trying to choose between ‘borderline’ applicants who all look very similar
- Looking at achievements in context can reveal that a candidate who looks ‘average’ has in fact achieved significantly in their circumstances, demonstrating potential and grit
- By giving these candidates the opportunity to take part in an interview, you give yourself the chance to find talent you might have otherwise missed
- It can also be helpful to refer to the contextual data again after interviews, to help contextualise interview performance when choosing between ‘borderline’ candidates, or where you might receive feedback prioritising ‘polish’ over potential.
- Support socially mobile candidates before and during your process
- Providing a detailed insight into your application process through ‘day in the life’ content and insight days gives socially mobile candidates access to information they cannot get through personal networks
- Providing financial support for travel costs, accommodation and office-wear removes the financial barriers that make it harder for socially mobile candidates to engage with, or perform their best during, your process.
- Monitor the performance of socially mobile candidates
- Contextual data tools support employers to monitor for adverse impact against socially mobile candidates at each stage of their application process
- For some employers, this is the first step in introducing contextual recruitment. After a year or two of data monitoring, recruiters often feel comfortable to start using contextual data to inform decision making
- By monitoring your process from end to end you will be able to identify if you need to increase your outreach to candidates from under-represented groups, or to review your selection criteria and tools to reduce adverse impact
- Monitor staff progression and retention by socioeconomic background also – there are still large gaps here, and having this data can help to build a case for activities to support the progression and retention of socially mobile staff.
- Support socially mobile candidates to get on, not just get in
- Socially mobile candidates often struggle to adjust to professional work environments – not because they aren’t talented, but because they do not have a network of family and friends sharing the secrets of the workplace with them
- Providing support in the form of a mentor or sponsor can help provide socially mobile staff with access to the advice and guidance their more connected peers already have
- Make it clear to new joiners what good looks like and how their performance will be assessed so that everyone knows the rules of the game
- Make sure staff from all backgrounds have access to constructive feedback and support on how to improve where needed.
- Encourage conversations about socioeconomic background at work
- Lots of successful professionals have spent years hiding their socioeconomic backgrounds in an attempt to fit in
- By normalising conversations about social mobility, you can create an environment in which staff feel able to be more open about their lives
- Senior leaders from socially mobile backgrounds sharing their stories, or the creation of social mobility networks, can be a great way to get the conversation started.