With the job market becoming extraordinarily competitive, it’s difficult to curtail unconscious bias during the hiring process—ensuring we have diversity and inclusion.
Studies show hiring managers favor candidates with similar backgrounds despite qualifications—resulting in missed talent and stopping any innovative, fresh, and impactful ideas from coming into the system.
However, using AI can help mitigate this problem. As AI can analyze data objectively (acting as nobody’s friend or enemy), it can drastically reduce bias and ensure our hiring process remains fair.
In this read, we’ll discover how.
Unconscious Bias in Traditional Hiring
Psychologically, we’re more inclined to favor candidates who are similar to us or we can resonate with.
Studies show applicants with ethnic-sounding names receive 40% fewer interview callbacks. Similarly, female-sounding names have a disadvantage compared to male-sounding names. Age bias is also common, with 38% of HR managers admitting to bias against older applicants.
Now, the traditional hiring process is prone to bias. For example, to cut down time, resume screening (focusing on keywords) overlooks qualified candidates with atypical backgrounds.
Similarly, interviews are bound to be highly subjective.
Unconscious bias influences how candidates are perceived based on totally irrelevant things—such as appearance or the way they talk.
How To Use AI To Eliminate Unconscious Bias In Hiring
Unlike humans susceptible to unconscious cues, AI analyzes data objectively with this core focus on the merits or the ability to do the job (skills and experience).
Moreover, AI can automate tasks like resume screening, freeing recruiters for more strategic roles.
Here’s how it can help:
Unbiased Job Descriptions
AI can identify and remove biased language from job descriptions.
For example, it can flag gendered terms like “aggressive” or “assertive” and suggest alternatives suitable for all genders. Inclusive language in job descriptions is a must if you’re looking to attract a versatile range of candidates.
Moreover, that’s what people prefer too. Studies show over 76% of job seekers prioritize working with diverse teams.
Objective Resume Screening
AI analyzes resumes based on skills and experience extracted from the text.
So naturally, it excludes subjective factors like names, educational background, or even fonts. Because of this, it doesn’t overlook qualified candidates with non-traditional resumes.
Additionally, AI-powered screening significantly reduces processing time for high-volume recruitment—not only cutting down bias but also mitigating the time constraints faced by human recruiters.
Standardized Interviews
Now, interviews are highly prone to subjective factors, but AI can counter this by facilitating structured interviews.
By providing a set of standardized questions for all candidates, AI can eliminate bias that might arise from interviewer preferences for specific communication styles or personal connections.
Plus, a consistent line of questioning helps the organization access a fair comparison of skills and knowledge across all applicants.
Analyzing Candidate Responses
AI can analyze interview responses for relevant information using natural language processing.
So, the recruitment process caters to the content of the answer, disregarding non-verbal cues like tone of voice or body language that can be misinterpreted.
Thus, AI ensures candidates are evaluated based on their ability to communicate their ideas effectively—not on subjective factors.
Next Step?
Despite how helpful AI is, there’s a chance it can perpetuate bias if trained on biased data sets.
Thus, we’ve to ensure that the AI we’re using has been trained using diverse data sets that reflect real-world demographics.
Moreover, it needs continuous monitoring and adjustments to ensure it remains fair and unbiased.
Engage AI: An AI Recruiting Software Free Of Unconscious Bias
Engage AI is a modern AI recruiting platform that automates tasks, streamlines hiring, and helps you find the best talent.
We use AI to mitigate bias and ensure a fair chance for all candidates.
