What is Screening/Interviewing Bias?
Minimizing Bias in Municipal Hiring: Fair Interviewing Practices for Inclusive Selection
It is human nature to have biases. Keeping those biases in check during the application screening and interviewing stages of the selection process is of utmost importance. Hiring managers and interview panel members need to take precautions to ensure such biases don’t influence their judgement of the job applicants. Screening and interviewing as a panel can help to alleviate bias. It is important for panel members to address potential bias they see and hear with other panel members during the deliberation on the candidates for the job. Focusing on the facts regarding the candidate’s responses or behaviors helps avoid bias.
The following are common biases found in screening and interviewing:
o. Are you taking any prescription drugs?
p. What country are you a citizen of?
q. What language did you speak in your home when you were growing up? Examples of questions interviewers can ask during an interview
a. What days can you work? What hours can you work?
b. This position requires regular travel. Will you be able to commit this?
c. Are you legally eligible to work in the United States?
d. Are you over 18? (if the position requires the candidate to be 18+)
e. This job requires someone who speaks more than one language. What languages do you speak or write fluently?
f. Have you ever been convicted of a crime or have you ever been convicted of a felony?
g. You say on your application that you were in the military. What kind of education and
experience did you get there?
h. Do you have a high school diploma, or did you graduate from high school?
i. Do you have a university or college degree?
j. Can you perform [specific tasks pertinent to the job description]?
k. Would you be able to meet the job's requirement to frequently work weekends?
l. Are you bondable?
m. Tell us about your experience serving difficult customers.
n. Give us an example of a time when you were required to learn a new task. What steps did you take to ensure you retained the information and performed it correctly?
o. Tell us about your experience using computer software for payroll.
3. Governing the Municipality 73
Stereotyping: Interviewers/managers form opinions about how people of a specific gender, religion, race, appearance, neighborhood, etc. think, act, feel or would perform the job without evidence of this. Example: Assuming that a woman will want to work at a desk, rather than outside or assuming candidates who live more than 50 miles from the workplace will have attendance issues.
First impression error: Making a snap judgement and allowing first impression-whether it is positive or negative, to cloud the entire interview or screening process. Example: A candidate is wearing an out of the ordinary outfit, has tattoos, drives a very nice car, was the valedictorian of their school, etc. Halo/horn effect: Halo effect occurs when an interviewer allows a strong point about the candidate to affect the entire process. Candidate may have started the interview off very well or submitted a perfect resume and now they can do no
wrong. Errors or missing information during the interview may not be noticed or not as important. Horn effect occurs when one weak point is allowed to influence the entire process.
Nonverbal bias: Undue emphasis is placed on nonverbal cues, unrelated to the position. Example: style of dress, handshake or manner of speech.
Contrast effect: Strong candidates who interview after weak ones may appear more qualified than they actually are because of the contrast effect.
Negative emphasis: Rejection of a candidate based on a small amount of negative information. Research indicates interviewers given unfavorable information about a candidate give that information about two times the weight of favorable information.
Cultural noise: Candidates answer questions with “politically correct” answers or provides information they assume the interviewer wants to hear, rather than the truth. Example: candidate saying they have no issue reporting to a younger manager, when in fact this is not the case. It is best to use probing questions to get examples rather than asking closed
questions.
Similar to me error: Candidates are selected based on characteristics they share with the interviewer.
The following are common biases found in screening and interviewing:
o. Are you taking any prescription drugs?
p. What country are you a citizen of?
q. What language did you speak in your home when you were growing up? Examples of questions interviewers can ask during an interview
a. What days can you work? What hours can you work?
b. This position requires regular travel. Will you be able to commit this?
c. Are you legally eligible to work in the United States?
d. Are you over 18? (if the position requires the candidate to be 18+)
e. This job requires someone who speaks more than one language. What languages do you speak or write fluently?
f. Have you ever been convicted of a crime or have you ever been convicted of a felony?
g. You say on your application that you were in the military. What kind of education and
experience did you get there?
h. Do you have a high school diploma, or did you graduate from high school?
i. Do you have a university or college degree?
j. Can you perform [specific tasks pertinent to the job description]?
k. Would you be able to meet the job's requirement to frequently work weekends?
l. Are you bondable?
m. Tell us about your experience serving difficult customers.
n. Give us an example of a time when you were required to learn a new task. What steps did you take to ensure you retained the information and performed it correctly?
o. Tell us about your experience using computer software for payroll.
3. Governing the Municipality 73
Stereotyping: Interviewers/managers form opinions about how people of a specific gender, religion, race, appearance, neighborhood, etc. think, act, feel or would perform the job without evidence of this. Example: Assuming that a woman will want to work at a desk, rather than outside or assuming candidates who live more than 50 miles from the workplace will have attendance issues.
First impression error: Making a snap judgement and allowing first impression-whether it is positive or negative, to cloud the entire interview or screening process. Example: A candidate is wearing an out of the ordinary outfit, has tattoos, drives a very nice car, was the valedictorian of their school, etc. Halo/horn effect: Halo effect occurs when an interviewer allows a strong point about the candidate to affect the entire process. Candidate may have started the interview off very well or submitted a perfect resume and now they can do no
wrong. Errors or missing information during the interview may not be noticed or not as important. Horn effect occurs when one weak point is allowed to influence the entire process.
Nonverbal bias: Undue emphasis is placed on nonverbal cues, unrelated to the position. Example: style of dress, handshake or manner of speech.
Contrast effect: Strong candidates who interview after weak ones may appear more qualified than they actually are because of the contrast effect.
Negative emphasis: Rejection of a candidate based on a small amount of negative information. Research indicates interviewers given unfavorable information about a candidate give that information about two times the weight of favorable information.
Cultural noise: Candidates answer questions with “politically correct” answers or provides information they assume the interviewer wants to hear, rather than the truth. Example: candidate saying they have no issue reporting to a younger manager, when in fact this is not the case. It is best to use probing questions to get examples rather than asking closed
questions.
Similar to me error: Candidates are selected based on characteristics they share with the interviewer.