Everyone faces the interview with the hope of getting fair treatment. Nobody goes to the interview with negative expectations. As an interviewer, it is extremely important to avoid bias in their hiring process. The bias appears right at the start of the interview if one is not careful to avoid it. It is not possible to avoid it altogether but there are things that one can implement in their everyday life that will help greatly to avoid walking down this low road. For someone to have such interview bias is real. One cannot deny the fact, it is there in all of humanity but there are tools and habits that one can use to minimize the bias effect it has on the candidate’s interview process. Everyone deserves to have a bias-free interview and as a responsible interviewer, one must try to at least work on it consciously and subconsciously. It is possible to do it. Practicing to live a biased free living is possible but only if one decides to do something about it. Let us know Interviewer Bias Meaning-Examples & How To Avoid .
Before moving on to its remedy one must know,’ what is an interview bias’?
Interview biases are the preconceived thoughts or feelings the interviewer develops by looking at their superficial features rather than their core competencies and abilities. The superficial or the outward appearance has nothing to do with the person’s intelligence and character. Their core values and the experiences which they can bring to the table must be given the core importance.
There are all types of interview biases that one can have and these biases have a great chance of altering the hiring decisions and causing greater loss to the company. The bias can lead to a greater problem in the future as you will end up hiring the wrong person and letting go of the suitable ones. This can affect the company’s turnover rates to a huge extent.
Here are the most common types of interview bias one can bring to the forefront during an interview:-
1. Stereotyping:- The most common of all and the most dangerous of all. When you perceive someone on account of their gender, religion, economic class, and the list goes on, what happens is two things. One, you prejudge them based on that, and two, they are already on the ‘get hired fence’ or ‘get rejected lane’ in the back of your mind. When you stereotype anyone, it robs you of actually seeing things logically and you end up making skewed decisions based on the stereotyping.
Example 1:- Suppose a well-qualified and capable woman came to the interview for the role of XYZ. The interviewer has already perceived her to be incompetent for the role as he/she thinks that she cannot handle the pressure or if she is married, the interviewer may assume that she cannot do it as she has her kids and husband to take care of. This is just one example but countless such ones exist that create a bias setting.
Example 2:- A gentleman walks into the room and you see his name, it says its religious background. You start making a judgment on his mindset without even giving him a chance to express himself. You make assumptions about his character and lifestyle. Assumptions are just assumptions until you let them prove themselves. You cannot have a free biased interview if you do not separate the candidate from his background.
Everyone generally makes a stereotypical judgment based on cultural differences and language, experiences, etc. But one thing to remember is your past experiences cannot define the present experiences so one needs to have that mindset and not plunge into such a biased attitude.
2. Commonality bias:- when a candidate seems to have a good rapport with you, you get side-tracked. You unknowingly ignore the most important requirements. Liking people similar to you is indeed common. Therefore, taking a step back and practicing self-awareness is important to avoid a biased decision.
If you are consciously practicing self-awareness, you will discover that there is more to this candidate and you will be better equipped to make the right choice. It will eliminate the angel effect or the devil effect on the candidate. Such bias can do great damage to the right candidate’s selection. Perceiving somebody as an angel because you saw something in them is not right. But judging others based on that alone does not add up to the whole picture of the person. On the other hand, making someone a devil because they do not think or act like you is also a road to a downward spiral. It will only make you look like a fool. It is best to keep your feelings inside and make a bias-free decision in favor of the company.
Example1:- A candidate comes to the interview who has all that is required for the role but he/she is not of the same personality type as the interviewer. The interviewer takes the second candidate instead because the second candidate’s personality resembles so much as the interviewers. This is one example of commonality bais.
Example 2:- Suppose a candidate is from a certain hometown as yours. You have a high tendency of forming affinity-based bias just by knowing that part of your candidate. You may unconsciously include that candidate in your every conversation and give her more chances to prove themselves etc. This is one such example. There is more such affinity-based bias which is unhealthy and unfruitful for the candidate as well as for the company. The only way to avoid such a bias is to accept that partiality is wrong and deliberately work on removing it. Remembering your objective of why you are conducting the interview makes it easier to avoid it.
3. Unconscious bias:- Every person is controlled by their perception and background. What happens is that such things unconsciously control the way one perceives things. If it’s illogical, one must set their mind to work on it before it gets into the decision-making. A biased free life is not possible but one can at least try and work on the unreasonable thoughts or judgment. The non-verbal cues are judging a person through their appearance, fashion choice, verbal tone, or language choice, etc.
Example:- A candidate walks in the room and he/she has tattoos and piercings. The candidate’s way of speaking or the lingo is not according to the taste of the interviewer. Maybe the candidate is too classy and refined and the interviewer has some bias against such people. In either case, the interviewer is prone to make a biased decision and will only give a chance to the candidate he/she likes. Well, this is a perfect example of making biased decisions unconsciously.
Example 2:- An unconscious bias can happen when you see a person who is a veteran or a differently-abled person. You already have decided that they are not fit for the role as one is a veteran and will not have any knowledge of mingling with the civilians or because the other one is handicapped therefore it will only be a burden if you hire him/her. You make preconceived notions about a person’s capability and ability and reject them in your mind before they can even speak for themselves. On the contrary, such people may turn out more faithful than the rest but you have already rejected them in the first place so there is no possibility to know now. Therefore, it is vital to avoid such a thought process.
One can avoid such a mistake by taking collective decisions and bringing more wisdom to the table. Also, the other way is to work on removing such a mindset which is judging the book by its covers. The interviewer has to work on mingling with all types of people from every background and group. The only way to avoid such bias is by broadening an individual’s world and implementing inclusivity every single day.
Here are some practical ways to follow if you want to minimize bias decisions in the interview process:-
- For an interviewer, not having a biased conscience is extremely needed. To avoid making decisions based on first impressions, it is best to take the interview on the phone first. That way, you can have an idea of the types of candidates you will be interviewing without looking at their demeanor. This helps you make a better bias-free decision.
- Give out questions to fill out before you interview them. Asking behavioral questions around decision making, conflict resolution, and peer pressure will give a window of opportunity to the interviewer to know their candidate’s characteristics and will help the interviewer to have a proper way of judging their candidate further down the line.
- Another thing is to avoid making unstructured interviews. What it does is make a shabby interview. A structured interview is the right way to go if you want to avoid biased decisions. Write down what you want in the candidate, their qualifications and experiences, what kind of personality are you looking for to fit in that role. Write down their answers as well. As this will help you to make an informed decision. By noting down the candidate’s answer it will not only help you to remember the interviewee’s answer but it will also help you to make a clear decision.
- Avoid taking a series of interviews in one go. You will get exhausted interviewing so many people at one go and it will make you lose focus. Take a break to freshen your mind. The interviewee is giving their best and you must give them your best too.
- You must avoid asking personal questions like their political choice, sexuality, marital status, or background. Such controversial questions will only land you in unnecessary entanglements. and will not help you make a wise choice. Asking such questions automatically lets you find the similarities or differences between you and the candidate. Avoid going to places that will not help you choose the right candidate.
- Use the anonymity of the candidates by making such a system that lets you read the test result without knowing the candidate until you have selected them purely on their test.
- Work on your bias tendency by taking courses or workshops on that topic. Gaining knowledge on it will help you learn the art of avoiding making biased decisions. Also, expand your pool of candidates by opening up the vacancy to all kinds of people from varied backgrounds and religions. This will help you to avoid affinity-based bias. One can always work on their issues of whatever incident or experiences they have faced to not let it influence their decision making.
- Avoid drifting away from the real goal which is to select the right candidate. Sometimes an interviewer would drift away from the main thing and judge the Candidate based on their records and would not let them speak or prove themselves. Avoid doing that, at least give them this hour to have a bias-free discussion with you.
Have you and your team taken extra care of the no-bias rules and brought awareness to the members of the interview board. Arrange meetings or discussions on such issues and make opportunities for inclusivity by selecting from all pools of the society. Have gender or cultural sensitization programs often in the office. The more you are exposed to diversity, the better it is to avoid bias in your interview process as well as in the functioning of your office.
Conclusion.
Most people will never admit to having bais but everyone has it. Humans and bias can intermingle so easily if one is not cautious. This can rob the company of hiring suitable candidates and cause great loss to the company. The ways to avoid bias are easy but you must first admit that you have it. Then only one can work on avoiding it. Studies have shown time and time again that bias-free is utopia but it can be greatly minimized if one works on the areas of their weaknesses. The biases differ according to people. Find yours and work on reducing it.
