Page 3 - The Leadership Line: September 2021

Compliance

Bias in Interviewing

Hiring discrimination complaints range from gender to pregnancy status, race, ethnic group, religion, age, and genetic
background. Many complaints are brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Related laws include the
Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and the
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.

Having a “bad feeling” about a candidate and chalking it up to a lack of cultural fit doesn’t
sound controversial… but this “gut” feeling may be an unconscious bias. This is one of the
most common types of biases. It refers to the opinions you form about a person or situation –
in this case, a candidate interviewing for a position within our organization—without knowing
you’re doing so.
Behavioral based interviewing will help you avoid making selections based on assumptions,
intuitions, or solely on credentials. Behavioral based interviewing is based on the premise that
one of the best predictors of a candidate’s future job performance or behavior is his or her past
job behavior. This can be explored by asking questions such as, “Describe a difficult work-
related problem that required you to come up with a creative solution. Tell me the steps you
took and why.” By gaining insight into a candidate’s past experiences, you’ll develop a reliable
indicator of how that individual most likely will perform in the future and fit into the overall
culture at MIL.

Types of Unconscious Bias

Beauty Bias
Judging people on their looks

Affinity Bias

Describes our tendency to feel as though we
have a natural connection with people who Attribution Bias
are similar to us Judgments and assumptions about why
people behave in certain ways.

Horns Effect
One’s perception of another to be unduly Conformity Bias
influenced by a single negative trait. Changing your views to match others

Confirmation Bias Halo Effect
Looking for evidence for negative When we project positive qualities onto

assumptions people without actually knowing them.