The Body Shop adopts bold new recruitment plan in place of traditional resumes and references

Australians hoping to get a summer job at The Body Shop won’t need a resume or references, they’ll just have to answer four basic questions.

The Body Shop will this year be adopting an “open hiring” approach to employing its Christmas casuals, doing away with traditional resumes and reference checks.

It will be the first time the retailer has used the bold strategy in Australia, having already successfully implemented it for hiring in the United States, The Age reported.

Applicants will simply need to answer four questions: are you legally allowed to work in Australia, can you lift up to 11 kilograms, work an eight-hour shift, and be happy to work with customers?

Open hiring, which operates on a first in, best dressed basis, will help the company fill 380 holiday casuals across Australia, with recruitment already under way in WA, Tasmania, ACT, Queensland and South Australia.

It’s expected that 15 per cent of 380 people hired through The Body Shop’s open hiring process will be single parents, First Nations Australians, young carers, or people who have experienced homelessness.

The Body Shop will hire its Christmas casuals through an open hiring process. Picture: Google Maps

“So many people haven’t had opportunities, they haven’t been given the same access to things that a lot of us enjoy,” The Body Shop’s Asia Pacific brand and activism director Shannon Chrisp told the publication.

“We really want our stores to be diverse and inclusive, we want people to come into our stores and feel represented.”

The process, derived from the Buddhist principle of non-judgment, means no questions will be asked about the applicants’ background.

The method was first adopted by New York bakery Greyston founded by Buddhist Zen master Bernie Glassman in 1982.

In 2018, the bakery opened the Centre of Open Hiring and has since partnered with companies keen to adopt its approach and meet its goal to fill 40,000 jobs through open hiring by 2030.

The Body Shop will be the first major retailer in Australia to use the open hiring approach, with it also working with homelessness group Launch Housing, young carers charity Little Dreamers, women’s crisis provider Good Shepherd, and human services organisation APM.

Nearly 400 people will be hired, with preference going to those from hardship organisations. Picture: Google Maps

People connected to the organisations will be given access to an exclusive link to The Body Shop’s job application before positions are opened up to other members of the public.

“You go by date order – it literally is first in best dressed,” inclusion and belonging lead Michelle Nolan told The Age.

“If you have 100 applications you go to the first person who applied, and you allocate, and then you move to the second.”

Applicants get the opportunity to select their preferred store, then get invited to an informal meeting with its managers to discuss the requirements of the job.

If they’re happy with the conditions, they will be offered the position.