How can you create an interview process that reduces bias and improves reliability?

This is really the key to any fair and reliable process. One thing I've learned regarding job requirements is that Hiring Managers often mistake their WANTS for NEEDS. For example, a hiring manager might tell the recruiter that a bachelor's degree is required. But in reality, someone could be successful in the role without a bachelor's degree. One trick I've learned is to confirm the requirement like this: "Bachelor's degree required - just to be clear, if I find someone with amazing experience and proven expertise, but they don't quite have a degree, do you want to see them?" When the Hiring Manager says, "OF COURSE I DO", then you can confirm that the Bachelor's Degree is preferred, but not required.

One thing I have found very helpful in the interview processes is empowering Hiring Managers to be objective and focus on the role being interviewed for instead of the candidate in front of them.

Here are some ways to create a bias free and reliable hiring process - - standardize the interview structure - use behaviour-based questions - define evaluation criteria - train interviewers - diverse interview panel - blind resume review - avoid leading questions - monitor and audit the process - provide clear evaluation rubric - regularly update the process

Make it clear for candidates to understand the selection process. Why testing is done. Who reviews, is it algorithm/human? How they are being rated. I noticed AI one-way video interviews for tech roles. I researched ATS software it has a verbal communication rating. ATS also had a timing 4min. What if the candidate needs accommodation? How is it measured for people with speech delay, neurodiverse, invisible disabilities, accents, language barrier, English as a second language, body language, eye contact etc.? DEI is not only about race. It is about cultural add not a culture fit. Are you hiring for a cultural fit? How do you define the fit? What are the ratings? Check AI biases as it is triggered by people in the system usually.

N?o existe formula que funcione em tudo. A entrevista depende exclusivamente da capacidade do entrevistador em analisar o entrevistado. O entrevistador deve ter olhar clinico para aquilo que esta alem do obvio, como por exemplo, sarcasmos, cinismos, medos ou inseguran?as, etc. Cada pessoa reage de forma diferente, portanto, o diferencial é o entrevistador que deve desenvolver a si mesmo para além de uma técnica e considerar aquilo que é características humanas esperadas.

Behavioral interview questions are important. I believe this allows for a better comparison of candidates to identify who would be a better fit. Not to mention, the questions are usually the same for all candidates which eliminates bias.

I've found that Structured Interviews are one of the best ways to reduce bias in the interview process. The only way to ensure every candidate is being assessed equally is to ask the same questions to EVERY candidate at EVERY stage of the interview process. If the interview questions vary from candidate to candidate, the interviewer typically goes with their 'gut decision' which is going to be full of unconscious bias. The 1 part of structured interviewing that often gets overlooked, but is just as important as defining a specific list of interview questions is creating a grading scale for each interview question. Interviewers need to agree on the criteria that define a 'bad' answer vs an 'ok' one or an 'excellent' one.

I know people hate behavioral interview questions, but they are one of the few opportunities to try to compare candidates who were all asked the same question and can describe similar situations no matter their backgrounds. Free flowing vibe check conversation interviews feel great, they make candidates happy, but they also lead to hiring a less diverse team who all tend to think and act the same way.

Avoid brain-teaser hypothetical questions and avoid ice-breaker questions. Icebreakers can lead to candidates sharing more personal information and protected-class information. Brain-teaser questions have proven ineffective at assessing a candidate's experience. Behavioral questions are the best way to get the information you need in your time with a candidate.

There should be questions that every candidate for that role gets asked. Also lay out the expectation on how you want the candidate to answer the question. Is it behavioral or hypothetical.

Interviewers not only need training on how to ask good questions but also on how to recognize their own biases. Interviewers should also feel comfortable to challenge each other during debrief. Interviewers should also have training programs within the organization, not just for new interviewers but also for experienced interviewers.

Interviewers need a clear scoring rubric of what answer is a 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 (or whatever your scoring system). Clear guidance based around, how thoroughly they could answer, how much help they needed and what the expectations are for somebody of this level. This is the quickest way to get rid of the gutsy feelings or Yes/no decisions where everybody sits on the fence and hopes somebody else will decide.

Here's the crux. Your interviewers are making THE MOST CRITICAL decision(s) during the hiring process. Is it the very best-trained individuals within your organisation who have been given this responsibility, or as in the case of most organisations, 'part-time' interviewers who hire a few times a year and have had the most basic (if any) levels of training? Often, the most critical decision is left to the people least capable of making it. And companies wonder why they get hiring so wrong! Final point: most important part of interviewing is not the questions you ask, it's how you infer the answers.

It is important to note that the quality of interviewers/interviews is more valuable than the quantity of interviewers/interviews. Often times, you might have hiring leaders who want to take candidates through 5 rounds of interviews of 3-4 people each for an individual contributor role. It does not make sense to put a candidate through interview fatigue. Identify the core competencies and prep the interviewers on understanding the role and expectations so that they know how to ask questions and know what to look for in those answers.

Along with multiple interviews with peers, reporting manager, skip level etc, tools like psychometric test and personality assessment helps to gauge the candidate. However, one thing to be cognizant of is that the interviewer should be genuinely interested in the process and should be passionate about recruiting the right candidate. He/ She is acutally the person, selling the job to prospective candidates.

There are good interviewees that can't do the job and vice versa. Just behavior based questions and relying on answers from those questions can lead to bad hires and lack of diversity. Give candidates a chance to showcase their work.

A diverse panel of interviewers is critical. I’ve experienced success with including a peer and at least three cross-functional collaborators, with at least one of them being a senior-level individual. This inclusion allows the hiring manager to gain holistic feedback to get a sense of the individual by each interviewer focusing on a specific attribute. Coupled with diverse panels, I do stress the importance of conducting interview prep sessions before the interviewers so everyone is in sync, but also, a round table at the conclusion.

Using multiple sources can be key for diverse hiring. If the recruiting team is restricted to only one tech platform or candidate pool, they aren't going to reach diverse groups of candidates. It's important to check in as a team continually on sourcing efforts and provide unique ideas and resources for recruiters to pull from.

Be open to changes when receiving feedback! Don't let candidate or interviewer feedback on your hiring process fall in to a bottomless pit with no action. Set intentions, goals or actions for the feedback you receive and be open with candidates around how it will impact your processes moving forward. This will also help you stay on track with using the data for good and creating more effective, sustainable change.

Ask the candidates. Ask the experts (select your experts carefully - there are many imposters out there :)) Look at evidence-based data (look at the right data!) Your interview process should be helping you hire the right talent for your roles. Is it doing so? How do you know? Retention? Might be down to a great manager. Diversity? Might be down to great sourcing activities. Quality? How do you measure that? Important to think this through carefully or else risk falling down the wrong rabbit hole.

Creating an interview process that removes biases takes time and training with your recruiters and hiring teams. All too often, diversity and unbiased hiring become checklist items because processes are made without looking at the value that they add or don't add. Your hiring process should be reviewed regularly to identify areas of improvement and changes that are made should be communicated, documented and trained. Analyzing the data that results from your process will help you to improve your strategy as well. Looking at where candidates are coming from, applicant conversion rates, interview to hire rates, retention and exit interviews will all help improve your hiring process and help you to remove biases from your processes.

Please share genuine feed back with all candidates if they are not shortlisted and also, the profiles can be bookmarked and maintained for 1 yr for other prospective openings.

Reduce your overall reliance on human interviews. Interviews are a weak predictor of on the job success, and yet companies based their hiring decisions almost exclusively on them. Even with structured interviews in place, interviews are biased towards confident, attractive and extroverted people. Unfortunately in many types of roles, especially technical ones, your best candidates will be quiet introverts who don't seem very confident. Ensure your hiring process includes at least 50% non-interviews, like psychometric tests and skills-based tests. By focusing your hiring decisions on more objective measures, and can more reliably select the best candidates for the job.

If you are using a laptop in the interview, close your emails down and sign out of chats. There is nothing worse for an interviewee that having an interviewer who is distracted, doesn't seem to care and not putting the time and attention into the interview. It will not get the best our of anyone, so make sure you are away and free from distractions. When you are on best form, you will bring the best out of the person you are interviewing.

At the end of the day, what is important in getting the right candidate is to know if he will fit in the culture of the company. By asking the right questions and looking for clues in the way they answer. Their body language and non-verbal communication could be the key factor.