Local government recruiters can use structured interviews and performance-based questions to eliminate bias in the hiring process

Provide all candidates with a handout detailing expectations. Williams says a carefully crafted handout can help level the playing field for first-generation professionals, such as Asian Americans, women and introverts. She notes that these are all groups more likely to feel pressure to be modest or self-effacing. “Setting expectations clearly allows candidates to make their best case for themselves.” One handout her organization has used includes advice like, “Present yourself with quiet confidence. Bluster doesn’t work well here, nor does excessive modesty.” Williams adds that it’s a good idea to remind candidates of the qualities and skills your organization is looking for and share the metrics you’ll use with the interviewees after the employment conversation.

Use structured interviews and ratings. Williams urges HR department personnel to ask every candidate the same list of questions. She also says HR staffers should ask candidates questions that are directly relevant to the job. “Don’t ask about hobbies and the like unless your goal is to replicate your existing workforce. After the interview is over, interviewers should rate the candidate using a consistent rating scale.” After collecting these ratings, HR staffers should discount all outlier responses, where the interviewers either ranted or raved about the candidate. Williams says outlier responses should also be discounted in the résumé screening process for candidates.

Rethink culture fit. Williams says that if culture fit is used as a criterion in the hiring process, that the hiring manager should be asked to articulate in writing what “culture fit” means. “Then keep track of who is seen as a poor fit and look for demographic patterns. This isn’t only about people of color and white women; keep track of first-generation candidates as well. If the culture fit criterion is having an exclusionary effect, the organization needs to define culture fit in terms of work-relevant skills and dispositions, not in terms of preferred leisure activities or the lunch test (Would I like to have lunch with this person?).”

Track what happens after the interview. Williams offers this advice to hiring managers: “If women, people of color, and first-generation white men are getting called in for interviews but not being offered jobs at the end of the process, conduct an audit of your interview process. Are these candidates rated differently by interviewers? Are interviewers treating them differently than in-group candidates?”