Comments on: “Blind Hiring” to Avoid Bias: Wave of the HR Future, or “Blind Alley”? http://www.employmentblawg.com/2008/blind-hiring-to-avoid-bias-wave-of-the-hr-future-or-blind-alley/ Workplace News & Views, Edited by St. Louis Labor & Employment Lawyer George Lenard Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:06:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: cybercasino http://www.employmentblawg.com/2008/blind-hiring-to-avoid-bias-wave-of-the-hr-future-or-blind-alley/comment-page-1/#comment-41160 cybercasino Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:03:10 +0000 http://www.employmentblawg.com/?p=2193#comment-41160 Please let me know if there are any equally great sites like this you can recommend to me. Thanks Again Please let me know if there are any equally great sites like this you can recommend to me. Thanks Again

]]> By: reviews http://www.employmentblawg.com/2008/blind-hiring-to-avoid-bias-wave-of-the-hr-future-or-blind-alley/comment-page-1/#comment-41157 reviews Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:55:19 +0000 http://www.employmentblawg.com/?p=2193#comment-41157 Good morning, I am new to this site. I have just learned about this site. I am going to read on and it's very interesting to know Good morning, I am new to this site. I have just learned about this site. I am going to read on and it’s very interesting to know

]]> By: Paul http://www.employmentblawg.com/2008/blind-hiring-to-avoid-bias-wave-of-the-hr-future-or-blind-alley/comment-page-1/#comment-40954 Paul Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:19:04 +0000 http://www.employmentblawg.com/?p=2193#comment-40954 Wow, George, this is a great article. I am so glad I found your blog. This is such a great angle to viewing the hiring process. Paul www.createyourcareer.blogspot.com Wow, George, this is a great article. I am so glad I found your blog. This is such a great angle to viewing the hiring process.

Paul
http://www.createyourcareer.blogspot.com

]]> By: testee_spencer http://www.employmentblawg.com/2008/blind-hiring-to-avoid-bias-wave-of-the-hr-future-or-blind-alley/comment-page-1/#comment-40851 testee_spencer Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:31:04 +0000 http://www.employmentblawg.com/?p=2193#comment-40851 Lengthy post, but well worth the effort. It reminds me of a lot of Malcolm Gladwell's points in the book "Blink," where he discusses the advantages and disadvantages of thin-slicing -- sizing up a person or a moment in a split second with limited information. Studies have shown that these kinds of judgments often reveal our unconscious skills, but also betray our biases (race plays HEAVILY into this...on a very clever diagnostic test studies found that white American individuals had a very hard time "associating" positive words with African-Americans). I think it's hard when you work with recruiters to combat this. Not only do you have your own biases to deal with but also the biases of someone else who might have an entirely different set of unconscious prejudices or baggage than you. I have noticed a difference depending on the model, though. For example, the last few months we have been getting candidates through an online marketplace (Dayak) -- originally it was to save money but so far most of our candidates have come from separate recruiters (rather than using just one as a candidate funnel). What does this mean? Well, not only are the recruiters competing for business but their biases are competing -- in other words there's a greater range of biases floating around. I'd like to think of this as a little more fair. If we were to adopt an in-house blind test it would probably be the closest to objective candidate assessment as we're likely to get. Lengthy post, but well worth the effort. It reminds me of a lot of Malcolm Gladwell’s points in the book “Blink,” where he discusses the advantages and disadvantages of thin-slicing — sizing up a person or a moment in a split second with limited information. Studies have shown that these kinds of judgments often reveal our unconscious skills, but also betray our biases (race plays HEAVILY into this…on a very clever diagnostic test studies found that white American individuals had a very hard time “associating” positive words with African-Americans).

I think it’s hard when you work with recruiters to combat this. Not only do you have your own biases to deal with but also the biases of someone else who might have an entirely different set of unconscious prejudices or baggage than you. I have noticed a difference depending on the model, though. For example, the last few months we have been getting candidates through an online marketplace (Dayak) — originally it was to save money but so far most of our candidates have come from separate recruiters (rather than using just one as a candidate funnel). What does this mean? Well, not only are the recruiters competing for business but their biases are competing — in other words there’s a greater range of biases floating around. I’d like to think of this as a little more fair. If we were to adopt an in-house blind test it would probably be the closest to objective candidate assessment as we’re likely to get.

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