Before we dig into removing bias from interviews, let’s talk about the question: how can bias affect a job interview?  

If a company is looking to hire a candidate with a specific set of skills to do a job, and the interviewers have biases influencing how they make their decisions, the company risks losing money on an investment in the wrong candidate. More than just business costs, hiring the wrong candidate can influence other parts of the organization - including team morale, missed numbers, and attrition. There are different ways bias can appear throughout the interview process. A common threat to hiring efficiently and equitably is unconscious bias specifically.  

Unconscious bias is when a person’s (often the interviewer's) prejudice(s) influences their decision, even though the person may not be intentionally biased or even aware that the bias is influencing them. This all too often leads to the wrong candidate being hired because they are more likable, even though they are not necessarily qualified for the job. Another impact of bias in the interview process is the right candidate getting rejected based on the wrong criteria. An example of this is if a salesperson who is very friendly, extroverted, and personable gets hired for a highly technical sales role despite not having technical experience or a track record of hitting quota. In this same example, perhaps a candidate that has both of those things is passed on because they self-identify as an introvert. While the job description says nothing in the requirements about introverts or extroverts, an interviewer may unconsciously be more drawn to the extrovert as a positive candidate because it is easier to have a friendly conversation and get to know that person.  

Fortunately, there are plenty of tools out there to help hiring teams remove bias from interviews. Interview Intelligence solutions like Pillar are specifically helpful at identifying areas of improvement and training teams on how to remove unconscious bias from the interview process.  

When hiring teams invest in Interview Intelligence, they become less likely to make the same mistake as the company in the above example that hired the wrong rep – an all too common hiring mistake that can cost a business hundreds of thousands of dollars. In order to reduce interview bias, begin by understanding interview bias psychology and how to recognize what bias looks like throughout the interview process.

Types Of Bias In Interviews

There are several types of bias in interviews, including affinity (sometimes called “similarity”) bias, halo/horn bias, and premature judgment (sometimes also referred to as “first impression”) bias. Affinity bias in hiring is very common, particularly within organizations that rely heavily on referral networks to find and attract candidates.

A common example of premature judgement bias in hiring is when an interviewer provides feedback starting with “I just have a gut feeling…” or “I knew in the first five minutes…”. Unfortunately, when hiring teams score candidates based on premature judgments or similarities they are more likely to miss integral opportunities in interview conversations to better understand a candidate’s fit for a role based on skill alignment. Pillar’s Interview Intelligence solution was built to empower hiring teams with live interview coaching to avoid these costly mistakes and hire the right talent efficiently and equitably.  

On the other side of the spectrum, removing bias in interviews can positively impact a business’s revenue, product roadmap, attrition/retention metrics, and employee morale. Companies leveraging Pillar are identifying and avoiding interview biases like the above example and are seeing improved growth metrics as a result. Using ai, Pillar Interview Intelligence catches when bias may be appearing in an interview or in a feedback loop, then provides real-time coaching to course correct. 

Removing Bias From Recruitment

 Unfortunately, the actual interview is not the only place that bias appears in hiring. Other unconscious bias in recruitment examples include:
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Job Descriptions
*When job descriptions are not screened for bias, they may discourage qualified candidates from applying
*Common examples are: using language that is gender biased or discouraging to candidates with a non-traditional career path

Sourcing Candidates
*Referral processes often move up candidates that existing employees are friendly with straight to the hiring manager
*This results in overlooking a potential list of candidates who may be better qualified, but don’t have an equal opportunity for consideration
*This can lead to less diversity within an organization

Screening Resumes
*Because most hiring teams are in a rush to find a hire, they may rely solely on referrals (often affinity biases) to fill open roles
*Unconscious prejudices around where a candidate is from or what school they went to, for example, may impact whether a candidate is considered

Feedback Loops
*Taking too long to leave feedback on a candidate
*Feedback is based on a faint memory and no longer objective
*Talking with other interviewers before leaving feedback on a candidate
*Group bias is when interviewers let other peoples’ opinions influence their hiring decision 

Not having an efficient and equitable recruitment process in place leaves room for bias to impact hiring. Companies removing bias from their recruitment processes are using best practices like in this Ultimate Checklist for Hiring Teams combined with interview training and tools that lower their unconscious bias recruitment statistics.