Why We are Biased in Hiring

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Every new hire in an organization impacts its ability to innovate, adapt and survive. The right hire can innovate better ways of improving business and come up with fresh ideas. Right hire is an investment that pays off handsomely in the long run.

Human biases often mislead us in selecting “WRONG” candidate for a role. Here are few biases that we need to overcome so that we hire the “RIGHT” candidate:

  • Self-Marketer Vs Executioner

We often select someone who has marketed his skills well, rather than someone who has used his skills well. People often exaggerate their skills on their profiles and in interviews. The weaker the skill, more it’s exaggerated. Falling to this kind of bias, you might end up with someone who only talks and does not do.

  • Looks can be deceiving

Looks & overall appearance of a candidate creates a sense of goodness and affinity. A mediocre, but good looking & well-dressed candidate, tends to be graded better than someone with better skills for the role. Preferring someone with looks over skills might mean seriously compromising the expectations from the role.

  • Thinks like me

We are biased not only towards people who think like us but also for people who are from the same school as us, the same region as us, etc. We tend to like people who support our views, opinions, and decisions.

You may not add significant value if you hire people like you, most often you will get similar ideas and solutions for the business problems as you might have thought.

How not to be biased

  • Define the Selection Criterion

Weigh each parameter in the criterion against what is expected from the role. Evaluate the impact of the criterion for success of that role. If possible, make the criterion objective.

  • Evaluate against the criterion

Get the profiles shortlisted by an expert in that particular skill area. During the interview, look for the results driven by the specific skills. Ensure someone with the depth of knowledge in that skill area, while interviewing the candidate.


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