Applicant Review Bias and Assumptions: What We’re Missing in Hiring

Bias and assumptions. Two very different words, but both can quietly sabotage a hiring process long before an interview ever happens.

Biases

People often think of the big, obvious issues, the headlines, the lawsuits, the public scandals. However, bias in hiring also manifests in more subtle ways. In fact, 17 cognitive biases, out of 188, can affect how we review applicants. Original research by two psychologists from the 1970s, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, and subsequent studies by many others, have shown that this behavior can emerge at any point, from the moment a résumé is scanned to the final offer.

There are many ways this show up when we review candidates. Things like affinity, confirmation, and the halo or horns effect come into play more often than we realize. These are not just technical terms. They affect real decisions in quiet ways. Maybe someone else gets overlooked because their background doesn’t follow the path you expected, or they look like your ex-spouse/partner/etc. These details might seem minor, but they can have a big impact on how someone moves through the process.

Assumptions

Assumptions are a bit different, but they show up just as often—maybe even more. The hard part is that they usually sound reasonable, which is exactly why they slip by unnoticed.

Over the years, I’ve heard hiring managers, search committees, and supervisors make decisions based on assumptions with little to no fact-checking behind them. Here are a few real examples:

• “They live 50 miles away. They’re not going to relocate.”
• “They’ve changed jobs every couple of years; they must be a job hopper.”
• “They’re not from this area. They won’t understand the community.”
• “They’re from California.”

Yes, all of these were comments that were actually said out loud.

The problem is that these kinds of comments usually go unchecked. No one questions them, and before long, someone’s taken out of the process, not because of their qualifications, but because of an assumption.

So what can we do about it?

If you’re part of the hiring process, here are a few things to start doing today:

• Make sure people are trained. Everyone involved in reviewing applicants should have at least some basic training.
• Pause. Ask yourself, “Is this decision based on fact or a ‘gut feeling?”
• Speak up. When you hear something that sounds “off”, ask with curiosity, such as “What makes you say that?”
• Don’t guess. If you read something or hear something from an applicant, ask the candidate. It’s okay (and legal) to ask for clarification.
• Write things down. Take notes on “the why” of a decision. It helps keep things clear and gives you something to look back on if anyone has questions later.
• Name it. If you hear or see something, say so. The more we normalize speaking up, the better decisions we’ll make. Staying quiet is often perceived as consent to bad behavior.

Bias and assumptions don’t go away on their own. We need to name them, discuss them, and make it okay to question them in real time. That’s how we get closer to fair, thoughtful, and informed hiring decisions.

And that’s the service we owe to every applicant who takes the time to apply.