I was 22 years old when I started my career in higher education. I had been an assistant manager at a movie theater for four years; I was a wife and a mother; and I was looking for a new opportunity. My mother encouraged me to apply for an admissions and records technician position at Barstow Community College. While I had been in a management position for some time, I did not have direct experience working in an office setting. The hiring team at Barstow Community College recognized that I had translatable skills and took a chance on me. Nearly 21 years later, I am the registrar and assistant vice president of academic affairs at Claremont McKenna College. I keep in mind how I received my start in higher education every time I set out to recruit someone for a role in my office. Someone saw what I could be, and their decision changed my life.
I am an alum of the 2019–20 PACRAO Leadership Development Institute (LDI). LDI was fundamental to my leadership journey. One of the required readings that has been critical in my development as a leader is Start With Why by Simon Sinek. According to Sinek (2011), people make decisions based on their perceptions of the world, which are not always accurate. “You have to be careful what you think you know. Assumptions…even when based on sound research, can lead us astray” (Sinek, 13). Every admissions and registrar leader knows what we do and how we do it. However, we do not spend enough time determining and clearly articulating why. By why I mean what our purpose is. Why do our offices exist? Why do we get out of bed and do what we do? And why should anyone care about what we do? Knowing our why is essential for our own success and the success of our teams. “The whats are important – they provide the tangible proof of the why – but the why must come first” (Sinek 2011, 70). So, before you post your next job opening, think about your why, the why of your office, and the why behind the role. The goal is not to hire people who fit the role that you need, but to hire someone who believes what you believe (Sinek 2011). Clearly articulate the whys in the role and hire someone who is already motivated, and give them something to believe in (Sinek 2011).
I have been on many hiring committees and have conducted my fair share of hiring for roles in the registrar’s office. Many colleges, universities, and individual managers search for the ideal candidate, creating job descriptions with strict, often unrealistic qualification requirements. For example, when hiring for entry-level positions in your office, consider whether that role really requires two years of higher education experience. I have hired people who worked in banking and a veterinary clinic for frontline positions. I found they were highly skilled in customer service and were excellent in conflict resolution. They did not need two years of higher education experience to be successful in the office. Additionally, we do not recognize our unconscious biases; we create interview questions that we would even struggle to answer, and get stuck on hiring someone who is a better “functional fit” or “cultural fit.” When deciding whether a candidate is a good fit in the office, many organizations focus more on functional fit than cultural fit (Harris 2023). Functional fit refers to a person’s “hard” skills, such as prior experience, education, and proven technical skills. Cultural fit refers to a person’s ingrained beliefs and behaviors, attitudes, and personality traits (Harris 2023). We can get tunnel vision focusing on a candidate’s functional fit over their cultural fit, or vice versa, leaning into our biases. Shifting our mindset from degree-based to skills-based hiring, understanding neurodivergence in the workplace, recognizing biases related to a person’s professional experience, and examining our own institutional bias in candidate evaluation are keys to promoting access and equity in hiring.
We are in the business of human development. We all know the importance of higher education and how it contributes to the whole self, social-emotional development, enhanced critical thinking, communication, and quantitative skills. Many of the roles in our offices require at least an associate degree, but most require a bachelor’s degree or higher. Transitioning from degree-only hiring to include skills-based hiring practices does not mean degrees are unimportant. It means some skills cannot be trained, but certain role requirements can be learned on the job. Many candidates shy away from applying for roles with strict education and experience requirements, and they might not bother applying (Forbes 2023). Rather than relying solely on resumes and structured interviews, adding a skills-focused process can widen the candidate pool and provide stronger predictors of job success (SHRM Labs). Skills-based hiring is an evolving landscape, but it is worth identifying the hard and soft skills that most affect performance in specific positions and/or across the office (SHRM Labs). Once you have identified those skills, add them to the job description. Oyster HR (2025) noted that one challenge is balancing the need to list specific skills with the desire to attract a diverse applicant pool. It is recommended to use clear, simple language when identifying day-to-day tasks, key job duties, and decision-making authority, and to avoid jargon and technical language that might make the job seem inaccessible to people from different industries or backgrounds (Oyster HR 2025). Would you be successful in an interview if you interviewed yourself? Getting through the initial interview process can be a major hurdle for candidates with different communication styles, career gaps, or varied employment histories (Palumbo 2022). Consider restructuring your interview process by conducting structured interviews. Forbes (2023) describes structured interviews as a systematic interview where each candidate is asked the same set of questions and is assessed using the same criteria. Doing so minimizes subjectivity and unconscious bias and ensures a level playing field for all candidates, thereby promoting a fair and equitable hiring process (Forbes 2023).
Providing a structured hiring process is important for every candidate. But it is even more important for neurodivergent people. Palumbo (2022) notes that candidates with autism often have a literal understanding of language and may find it hard to understand inflection and colloquialisms over the phone. Offering as much flexibility as possible, such as a Zoom, in-person interview, or written assessment, helps to meet people where they are (Palumbo 2022). Palumbo (2022) also suggests providing interview questions in advance to reduce anxiety, limiting the number of interviewers, and providing breaks during the interview process.
I have worked at “elite” institutions, and it wasn’t until I started working in that environment that institutional prestige and equity came into play. I have examined and pushed back on institutional bias in candidate evaluation while serving on hiring committees. It is important to develop strategies for assessing candidates beyond their alma mater’s reputation. It is critical to develop fair and transparent evaluation criteria that will reduce prestige barriers for candidates who have worked at less recognized institutions or proprietary institutions. At the same time, there can be institutional prestige biases; there are also biases in previous institution type and “cultural fit” based on where the candidate may have worked previously. For example, I transitioned from working at a regional campus of a university that focused on adults completing their bachelor’s degree to a private arts-focused institution, and was asked questions about how I would adapt to the “cultural difference.” I later learned that someone questioned my ability to succeed in the role. Instead of choosing candidates with similar professional backgrounds, prioritize how each person can contribute culturally and their ability to adapt (Forbes 2023).
Hiring for access and equity starts with your why. “When you know your why, your what becomes more impactful, because you’re walking towards or in your purpose.” (Michael Jr. 2017). Understanding your why can help you identify others who are motivated and inspired to lift the office toward its purpose and achieve institutional goals. Many of us have been working in higher education for a long time. There are new generations entering the workforce who have no idea what a registrar is or what admissions does. There is no degree in registrar or admissions, and we will have to reach beyond our circles to ensure that the next generation is in tune and in touch and represents the communities we serve. Ultimately, it is the hiring manager’s role to promote access and equity in the workplace. There are actions each of us can take to foster inclusive hiring. We do this by creating and sustaining flexible, equitable work environments. We must continuously evaluate and adapt our hiring practices to support the professional growth and development of the people we lead.
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