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What is it?
Recruitment is about making it as easy and appealing as possible for young people to say yes and get involved. The process should be clear, accessible, and free from unnecessary barriers.
For many young people, the way an opportunity is presented tells them whether it was designed for someone like them. Unclear expectations, formal language, or complicated application processes can be enough to make a motivated young person walk away before they've even started.
Organisations that invest in getting recruitment right attract participants who show up with confidence, because the process itself told them they belonged.
Common challenges
What barriers do organisations face at this stage?
Structured applications are built to assess experience, but organisations recruiting young people are often hiring for attitude, and aptitude. Many organisations told us they don't discover whether someone actually has interest until onboarding.
Young people hesitate to apply to organisations they've never heard of and can't picture from the outside. Smaller organisations reported that recruitment only started working once they'd grown enough to be recognisable.
Young people who have experienced disadvantage face real stigma in disclosing their circumstances, often carry heavy existing commitments, and rarely come through standard channels. It takes trusted networks and personal connections to reach them, as opposed to broader advertising.
What we heard
Verbatim from Community of Practice members during the Awareness session.
"Recruitment is structured in a way that makes it hard to gauge skills. It isn't until the onboarding experience that we work out whether that person actually has the interest or inclination."
Community of Practice member
"The voices we need to hear are struggling in more ways, like housing insecurity. There's a stigma around disclosing, and as organisations we need to reduce that stigma."
Community of Practice member
"Being a small to medium-sized org, young people were not sure what they were stepping into.
Community of Practice member
Guiding insights
What patterns emerged across every organisation we spoke to? Hover or tap any card for the insight behind it.
Young people are more likely to quietly walk away than to push back, ask for clarification, or advocate for themselves. When a process feels unclear, intimidating, or uninviting, they assume the opportunity isn't for them.
Young people can be excited about an opportunity and still not apply because the mechanics of applying feel foreign and high-stakes. Hidden requirements such as CVs, formal language, and unstated expectations can lead to self-exclusion.
Vague role descriptions, unclear timelines, and unpredictable processes create a fear of the unknown. Transparency builds the confidence young people need to picture themselves in the role and take the first step.
Young people with lived experience of exclusion need more than a well-written description to believe a role is for them. Who runs the process, sits on the panel, and already holds the role speaks louder than anything written in the ad.
The way an organisation communicates during recruitment tells young people more than the role description does. For those who have been assessed, dismissed, or overlooked by institutions, the first contact is an invitation or a warning.
Young people don't lose interest in opportunities — they lose trust in organisations that go quiet. Gaps in communication create space for self-doubt to fill and can be enough to lose someone who was genuinely interested.
Strategy Playbook
Nine strategies across three themes. Pick a theme, then open any strategy for a worked example.
A visible, predictable presence in the handful of spaces young people already spend time, online and offline, rather than broad coverage nobody notices.
Identify the one platform young people spend time on, and commit your effort instead of choosing every channel.
Find one upcoming event where young people already gather, such as a careers fair, expo, or festival, and offer an interactive activity.
Commit to a publishing schedule you can actually sustain, and hold it long enough for familiarity and trust to build.
Communication that sounds like a person, shows the real work in progress, and lets young people hear about the experience in a peer's voice rather than the organisation's.
Before publishing, read it aloud. Cut any word you would never say in conversation to someone in front of you.
Document the journey of your work, including the challenges, unexpected moments, and how young people have shaped it.
Bring in a young person who already makes content to produce fun, entertaining videos.
A living space young people return to between opportunities, with real ownership over what gets made and shared, so engagement outlasts any single program or post.
Create a moderated space where young people can talk between events, and seed it with content that gives them a reason to return.
Hand a young person or small group control of your social media, with a brief and payment for their time.
Find young people already enthusiastic about your work, and equip them to share opportunities in their own voice.
Reference Panels
Two tables that apply across stages rather than only to Awareness.
Incentives are not only financial. These five types cover what young people told us made an opportunity worth their time. Select one, or compare all five side by side.
Direct payment for time and contribution, through stipends, honorariums, gift cards, or award-wage roles.
It tells young people their expertise has real-world value, and removes one of the most common reasons they say no.
- Provide honorariums or gift cards to value youth time and skills.
- Offer award-wage roles to encourage sustained engagement and responsibility.
- Give flexible micro-grants that youth control to empower ownership.
Tangible professional experience in the opportunity itself, through paid roles, internships, or portfolios.
It gives young people proof of experience they can point to long after the work is done.
- Write reference letters and endorsements to validate contributions.
- Provide paid internships and project roles for real-world experience.
- Support youth to turn their job tasks into a career portfolio that showcases their achievements.
Skill-building and personal growth, through workshops, certifications, or mentoring relationships.
It makes the role valuable in itself, because every shift builds a skill they keep.
- Offer targeted workshops that help youth build new skills.
- Provide online courses and certifications to support continuous learning.
- Pair youth with mentors for guidance, growth, and confidence-building.
- Use reverse mentoring to elevate youth voices in trainings.
Formal acknowledgement of their contribution, through credits, references, or ceremonies.
It tells young people their work mattered and that someone is paying attention.
- Credit youth publicly on publications and social media.
- Host thank you events and award ceremonies.
Access to people and networks, through peer connections, introductions, and projects.
It gives young people a community to belong to and connections that outlast the role.
- Host peer networking events to facilitate connections.
- Connect youth with industry professionals and experts.
- Include youth in real projects to encourage collaboration with professionals.
- Organise community co-creation days to co-design programs.
Direct payment for time and contribution, through stipends, honorariums, gift cards, or award-wage roles.
Tangible professional experience in the opportunity itself, through paid roles, internships, or portfolios.
Skill-building and personal growth, through workshops, certifications, or mentoring relationships.
Formal acknowledgement of their contribution, through credits, references, or ceremonies.
Access to people and networks, through peer connections, introductions, and projects.
It tells young people their expertise has real-world value, and removes one of the most common reasons they say no.
It gives young people proof of experience they can point to long after the work is done.
It makes the role valuable in itself, because every shift builds a skill they keep.
It tells young people their work mattered and that someone is paying attention.
It gives young people a community to belong to and connections that outlast the role.
- Provide honorariums or gift cards to value youth time and skills.
- Offer award-wage roles to encourage sustained engagement and responsibility.
- Give flexible micro-grants that youth control to empower ownership.
- Write reference letters and endorsements to validate contributions.
- Provide paid internships and project roles for real-world experience.
- Support youth to turn their job tasks into a career portfolio that showcases their achievements.
- Offer targeted workshops that help youth build new skills.
- Provide online courses and certifications to support continuous learning.
- Pair youth with mentors for guidance, growth, and confidence-building.
- Use reverse mentoring to elevate youth voices in trainings.
- Credit youth publicly on publications and social media.
- Host thank you events and award ceremonies to celebrate milestones.
- Lead legacy projects or spaces to carry forward youth contributions long-term.
- Host peer networking events to facilitate connections.
- Connect youth with industry professionals and experts.
- Include youth in real projects to encourage collaboration with professionals.
- Organise community co-creation days to co-design programs.
Incentives are not only financial. These five types cover what young people told us made an opportunity worth their time. Select one, or compare all five side by side.
Another young person at a similar stage
Shared experience, encouragement without authority
To feel understood by someone who gets it, and less alone in the struggle
Often, and informal
A friendly colleague, close in age or stage
Answers questions, gives a tour, helps them feel included
To get familiar, slowly settle in, and ask questions without pressure
Daily, in the first weeks
A more experienced colleague, not their manager
Offers advice on handling workplace situations, projects, decisions, and culture
To build their confidence over time and navigate challenges
Periodically, over time
An internal or external coach or supervisor
Helps them reflect, build skills, track progress, and improve in an area of work
To build a particular skill, such as speaking up or leading tasks, or work toward a goal
Scheduled, regular sessions
Another young person at a similar stage
A friendly colleague, close in age or stage
A more experienced colleague who is not their manager
An internal or external coach or supervisor
Shared experience and encouragement, without authority
Answers questions, gives a tour, and helps them feel included
Offers advice on workplace situations, projects, decisions, and organisational culture
Helps them reflect, build skills, track progress, and improve in a specific area of work
When they want to feel understood by someone who gets it and feel less alone in the struggle
When they are getting familiar with a new environment, settling in, and asking questions without pressure
When they want to build confidence over time and navigate challenges
When they want to build a particular skill, such as speaking up or leading tasks, or work towards a specific goal
Often and informally
Daily during the first few weeks
Periodically over time
Scheduled, regular sessions
Ripple Opportunities
SYDNEY // NEW SOUTH WALES
This case study is part of the Youth Engagement Playbook. Download the full playbook to explore all six stages of youth engagement and take the self-assess
When traditional recruitment excludes talent, Australian Spatial Analytics (ASA) redesigned the system. Since 2020, ASA has created geospatial and digital engineering careers for more than 200 young neurodivergent people — a group that faces unemployment rates of up to 34%. Today, ASA employs over 60 people, with around 80% identifying as neurodivergent, primarily autistic.
ASA’s journey begins with sharing roles that include Easy Read job descriptions, simple language, and focus on transferable skills, attitude, and aptitude rather than formal qualifications. Candidates receive “day in the life” overviews, and can watch short videos, to clearly understand the workplace, daily tasks, and culture. This makes it easier for candidates to assess if the role is right for them and reduces anxiety about applying.
Before interviews, candidates receive questions 48 hours in advance. Interviews explore their activities, interests, and support needs, rather than only standard competency-based questions. The interview panel include current employees, creating a supportive, peer-based environment, and assistive technology is provided when required. This approach allows candidates to focus on demonstrating their strengths in a psychologically safe setting.
After interviews, communication is clear and timely. Candidates are informed of immediate hiring decisions or waitlist status. They are provided with clear next steps and optional Q&A sessions. This ensures candidates feel respected and supported throughout the recruitment process.
ASA’s recruitment approach demonstrates that accessible, structured, and supportive recruitment do not lower standards. By removing hidden requirements, they ensure young neurodivergent people can participate, succeed, and thrive in meaningful careers.
Where do you stand on Recruitment?
Now it's your turn. Take an honest look at how your organisation is doing on [stage]. Rate each statement from one to five, and you'll see exactly where to start."
Download The Nine Strategies
A one page summary you can bring to a team meeting, with the worked examples and the self-assessment.
All nine strategies across Channels, Messaging & Community Building
The worked example for each one
The Social Media 101 format table
The seven statement self-assessment, printable
