The CV, HR’s first interaction with potential talent. CVs contain a plethora of information that signal to those in talent acquisition if a candidate is a prospective match for the organisation yet in reality, that information is encouraging biases and holding HR back from hiring explains a report from candidate assessment provider Arctic Shores.
CVs, especially for younger generations, lack sufficient or useful objective data which forces recruiters to turn to subjective information instead. This leads to a bias minefield which makes it impossible to fairly assess candidates. Below are a few examples of the impact that subjective information on a CV has on the hiring process.
Names
Names do not predict an employee’s future work performance, but clear evidence from Oxford University has shown that names on CVs do affect how recruiters see people. Those with Pakistani-sounding names send up to 60% more applications on average before they are invited to interview. Those with Nigerian and South Asian names submit 70% more applications whilst those with Middle Eastern or North African names need to send eight times as many applications before being interviewed. Research has also shown that names on CVs may also promote gender biases.
Education
Candidates that attend elite institutions such as Eton, Oxford, Cambridge or Ivy League schools might be perceived as the cream of the crop. That is why international law firm Clifford Chance blinded candidates’ educational records to recruiters and hiring managers in 2015. The end result? A 30% increase in educational establishment diversity that they hired from which significantly counteracts those biases for elite institutions.
The Social Link
With the rise of professional social networking, so too came the inclusion of candidates sharing their LinkedIn profiles with prospective recruiters. Though technically not a CV, recruiters who pre-screen candidates on their LinkedIn or social profiles are opening themselves up to biases. If the profile exhibits certain characteristics including ethnicity or gender, for example, it has two effects; it activates existing biases and can introduce new ones into the equation i.e. perceived attractiveness.
Level the playing field
Since CVs introduce biases in a number of ways making them counterproductive at best, there are a number of methods that talent acquisition specialists can turn to ensure an equal recruiting field for all. Behaviour-based assessments are one such tool that provides objective insights by replacing the subjective with objective data. These assessments cast aside bias-inducing information and ensure that each candidate is equally and fairly assessed.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
