Unconscious bias is a bias that we are unaware of, and it can cause problems when it comes to decision making during a job interview. When deciding whether you’re going to hire someone you need to know why you’re making the decision you are making. Is it about a logical conclusion, is it the most efficient response or is it because your experience tells you if someone is good for the job or not.
Since not all of our logic and decision making is completely conscious, you need to remember these few tricks in order to ignore and avoid those unconscious biases when hiring someone.
Be careful when compiling a job application ad
When compiling a job application ad, you should be very careful with the words you’re going to choose. The words that are written will have a powerful impact on the people who are going to apply for your job in the first place.
For example, the words in the ad can sound gender biased. Today, it’s very fashionable to use words like ‘ninja’ or ‘rockstar’ in job ads, but such words tend to prevent women from applying for the job. There are thousands of “problematic phrases” that will be gender biased in job adverts. So, it’s important to use critical thinking when making an ad and use pro-diversity language in order to have a bigger pool of applicants.
Go blind for the resume reviews
In order to unbiasedly pick the best candidates to interview you have to make sure you’re focused on their specific qualifications and talents. This means that you shouldn’t pay attention to their demographic characteristics.
Look at what each candidate brings to the table and how they can help your company and business succeed. There are software programs that will blindly process and pick out the candidates based on their qualifications, and they will improve your chances of interviewing the most relevant candidates.
Focus on their first impression
Going through the CV and picking the candidates for an interview based on their qualifications is one thing. On the other side, we have their overall first impression, how they are behaving at the interview, what they’re wearing, their overall vibe and so on. You should scan them quickly, take a look at their clothes, their overall hygiene, body language and so on.
According to Walk Jog Run blog, if they are wearing open-toed shoes, backless dress, and overall show too much skin, they are not making a good first impression. You already probably know that, since such behavior is unprofessional and certainly not business-like. This kind of examination might seem biased, but you want to have someone who is professional, clean and responsible in your team, so everyone can get along well and there are no major inconveniences in the workplace.
Test the candidate
Part of getting rid of the unconscious biases is to actually see the candidate perform the tasks and get an insight into their personality. When you give a candidate to solve a certain problem or perform a work task that he would potentially be doing after hiring, you are successfully beating the unconscious bias, since you have concrete evidence whether they’re good for the job or not.
Giving them a task as a test will subtly shift the focus from their personality, education, and experience to their performance and skill set, which are essential for hiring. What is more, you can easily compare the results from the test between the candidates and decide on factual evidence who is the best fit.
Set specific diversity goals
Since you want to stay unbiased, you as a company should set a clear plan when it comes to diversity. With goals in mind, you can easily work towards them incrementally. However, you cannot change the entire company and its policies overnight.
More importantly, you shouldn’t simply hire someone just to tick a box, especially if they are not qualified enough. But, if you set realistic goals and work towards them, you will easily see the areas where you need to improve and solve problems easier.
Biases can be unintentional and unconscious. That is why you need to be aware of them and always stay focused on how qualified the candidate actually is. Don’t let stereotypes and prejudice overpower your common sense, and make sure to follow these tips and you will manage to hire someone based on their skills and knowledge.