Recruiting women into skilled trade roles hasn’t been a simple endeavor over the past 50 years. Today, the drilling industry faces this same challenging question: How can we attract more females to the driller role?
Organizations can use various strategies and approaches to advertise jobs to female applicants and proactively target those applications, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll see an increase in women joining this field. In today’s article, I’ll outline three basic steps you can take to help boost female job applications for field-level opportunities.
Job Analysis Exercise
First, consider conducting a job analysis exercise. Dive into your current job descriptions for field-level positions and ask yourself (and your hiring team) some important questions:
- Are requirements listed for the role true requirements?
- Are there any limitations or restrictions listed that could possibly discourage female applicants from applying?
- Is the level of experience required applicable or could it possibly discourage females with little experience from applying?
If you haven’t had female employees or stakeholders review your job description or participate in the job analysis exercise, consider seeking feedback about the job posting’s relevance to them or whether any red flags might deter potential female candidates from applying.
Tips for Recruiting Women in Drilling, other Skilled Trades
The nature of drilling and construction work makes recruiting challenging enough. To make sure you cast the widest net, look at everything from your job postings to your benefits mix. Source: Getty Images
Utilize Associations and Groups
The second step you can take toward increase female applicants is to join associations and groups that target women in skilled trades. A few that you might consider researching include:
Just as your organization gets involved with the National Ground Water Association (NGWA) or the National Drilling Association (NDA), you can apply the same level of involvement to associations and groups that tailor to women in field-level roles. Many of these groups and associations have events that you can attend, or may even offer advertising opportunities for filling roles within your organization. Active involvement in these groups and networking among members can increase visibility with potential female applicants.
Evaluate Internal Benefits and Programs
Finally, evaluate your internal benefits and programs. Female employees often find paid time off, for example, one of the most important — if somewhat obvious — aspects of a benefit program. However, many companies get more creative with their benefits programs to providing diverse options to meet the needs of a more diverse workforce. Those programs could include:
- Extended parental leave for women during maternity and postpartum stages of life
- Family planning and fertility benefits to help women prepare to start a family
- Returnship programs that help women reenter the workforce after taking an extended leave to care for a loved one
- Career modeling programs help ensure women have a defined career path with defined goals and objectives
- Wellbeing and wellness programs that promote healthy work-life balance
Recruiting women into the drilling industry has obvious challenges. Drillers work hard work, sometimes in extreme conditions, and often away from home for extended periods. With that in mind, we must craft benefits and programs that appeal to female employees and meet the needs of a more diverse workforce.
Additional Resources:
National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), https://www.nawic.org/
Tradeswomen, Inc., https://tradeswomen.org/
U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/wb/about
Professional Women in Construction (PWC), https://www.pwcusa.org/
National Ground Water Association (NGWA), https://www.ngwa.org/
National Drilling Association (NDA), https://www.nda4u.com/
Jessica Alexander is director of talent acquisition for Cascade Environmental. She holds bachelor’s degrees in human resource management and business administration, has an MBA, and has a doctorate in human resource management. After completing 10 years of military service in the U.S. Air Force managing transportation and logistics, she launched a career specializing in recruitment and talent development. For more information about Cascade Environmental, visit www.cascade-env.com.
