Bias: The Little Voice in Your Head

“It`s not all that hard to understand a person. It`s only hard to listen without bias”?

~ Criss Jami

We all know what Bias means - It`s that one little voice in our heads that is whispering some thoughts about someone or something that only make sense if we want to give them sense. And they are only valid to us and may not reflect on other people.?

Speaking professionally, in my experience as a Technical recruiter, I`ve witnessed how biased behavior can jeopardize a good candidate's application and how the company can miss a great opportunity just because of a few things in the resume that we can only assume to be what we are thinking they are.

I had recently had this kind of situation and thank God it didn`t take me long to convince the interviewer to proceed with the candidate to whom he had some stoppers. The tricky thing with biased behavior is that often the person stops listening to the facts and usually is exploring them through the prism of prejudice.

A quick pause in the story. Here are my tips and tricks when facing a bias behavior in recruitment:

• Be very objective while communicating with a subjective partner. State the facts and appreciate the concerns on the other side.
• Show him the way back to being objective. Express the relevance of the facts and how they collate with the situation.
• Bear in mind - It`s a fine line between bias and discriminatory behavior and we have to be careful not to cross it.
• Last - do not overpush. If someone has made up their mind, let it go and move on.?

"Bias, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder. Facts are your firewall against bias."

~Tom Brokaw

So, back to the storytime. I managed to convince my colleague into seeing the candidate who not only did great on the interview and sent us some nicely done technical tasks but also made an impression that broke all biased thoughts. Needless to say, the candidate was offered the position. :)

And don`t get me wrong - I get biased myself as well from time to time. It`s inevitable. But the key is to keep these thoughts to yourself, not focus on them too much, and give your best to do your job. You can always initiate a get-to-know-each-other phone call with a candidate to whom you have some doubts if he/she is a good cultural fit, why he/she has changed jobs in the last year, or what motivates him/her to apply for a position which he/she is overqualified.?

Assumption is an enemy, bias is a two-faced friend. We all have biases and it is in our nature especially unconsciously. But if we are wise enough to acknowledge that, then we can uplift and see the bigger picture; truly absorb the facts, and not let meaningless details which only matter to us ruin our chances to make a great choice.