How to avoid bias in interviews
To achieve a great work environment and hire better talent, companies should focus on avoiding biases as much as possible. Two of Unnanu’s past articles explain a lot about these biases and how we can make employees aware of them.
Let’s dig a little deeper into how we can ensure fair hiring practices and reduce unconscious bias during the interview process. Here are a few ideas to best standardize interviews and avoid bias.
A good job description
The hiring process starts from the job description. Giving a clear idea about the role is important to receive resumes from suitable candidates. In short, defining the job is important, not the person who is going to do the job. Explain clearly what you will be expecting from the role.
Design an interview guide
Create a detailed guide before interviewing any of the shortlisted candidates. An interview guide can help you structure the interview and remove potential bias. Having a guide helps you assess each interviewee equally.
Use standardized questions
If you are the interviewer, prepare for the interview after shortlisting the candidates. Create a set of standardized questions that you can ask each candidate. Having a set of questions ready to measure individually or as a group can help maintain consistency in each interview. Discuss with colleagues and others in your field and use their input to create this list of questions.
Use a Rubric
Using a rubric to evaluate interviewees is another way to avoid hiring bias. Create a rubric before interviewing any of the candidates. It should include what you’re seeking in the new hire; their qualifications, specific skills and experiences, both soft skills and qualities that are necessary to be a cultural fit with the company. In addition, interview scorecards can help when grading candidates and making comparisons. This helps avoid personal bias.
Take notes
Sometimes it is very difficult for us to keep track of things and it is very important to write down an interview’s key points. Noting down these points while conducting the interview is also helpful to keep things as accurate as possible. This helps to avoid unnecessary emotional influences and can refresh your memory of important details of the interview after it ends.
Use an interview panel
Having multiple people on an interview panel can help avoid bias. Once everyone has evaluated each candidate, compared evaluations, and checked for potential biases, you have the best chance of hiring a candidate while being as unbiased as possible.
There are many other techniques that can be used to avoid bias in the interview process. To make this process easier, online tools like Unnanu can help you. From our AI-powered evaluator to scoring resumes and shortlisting the best candidates to scheduling and conducting interviews, Unnanu Hire will be there to help you.
If you are an employer, get started with Unnanu Hire to find the most qualified candidates.
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