Age, background, gender, appearance, or an unconventional career path: Unconscious biases often influence how job candidates are perceived. Mengia Schatt, Talent Acquisition Manager at Stettler Consulting, explains how to recognize these biases and consciously shift the focus back to your skills.
When First Impressions
Shape the Judgments
Stettler Consulting:
What are unconscious biases?
Mengia Schatt:
Unconscious biases are automatic thought patterns. They arise from personal experiences and societal influences. As a result, people are assigned to certain categories without any objective basis for doing so.
Stettler Consulting:
Shouldn’t a hiring process always be conducted neutrally?
Mengia Schatt:
Yes, the goal of a hiring process is to ensure an assessment that is as fair and objective as possible. Nevertheless, unconscious biases are human and often arise automatically. It becomes problematic when they influence the decision more than a person’s actual qualifications, experience, and skills.
Stettler Consulting:
How can a hiring process be designed to be as fair as possible?
Mengia Schatt:
Fairness starts even before the hiring process. Companies should define in advance which professional and personal qualifications are required for a position. These criterias must be applied equally to all applicants. Clear job requirements and a competency-based selection process reduce the influence of unconscious biases.
During the interview, all candidates should be asked comparable questions, and their answers should be evaluated using consistent standards. If multiple people are involved in the selection process, different perspectives can contribute to a more balanced decision.
Convince with specific examples
Stettler Consulting:
How can I tell if I’m being treated with bias?
Mengia Schatt:
A critical question isn’t necessarily a sign of bias. Recruiters must be able to contextualize career changes, career breaks, or gaps in experience.
Problematic are sweeping statements such as: “At your age, you probably don’t want to make many changes anymore” or “With young children, you’re likely not very flexible.”
Such statements do not refer to your actual characteristics, but to general assumptions.
Stettler Consulting:
How can I refute a prejudice?
Mengia Schatt:
The most convincing approach is to give specific examples. Use your experience to show why the assumption isn’t true. This allows you to refute the assumption objectively, without justifying yourself, while also demonstrating your competence.
The company is also put to the test
Stettler Consulting:
How can job applicants prepare for potential biases?
Mengia Schatt:
Don’t try to control every possible bias. Prepare for critical points, listen carefully, and respond with facts. Also observe how the company handles your follow-up questions. A job interview isn’t a one-sided test. It also shows you whether the communication style, attitude, and corporate culture align with your expectations.
Conclusion:
A professional job interview should be based on qualifications such as skills and experience. Nevertheless, unconscious biases are human and can occur even during the hiring process. If you encounter sweeping assumptions, feel free to address them and refute them with specific examples and personal experiences. Prepare for potential reservations and steer the conversation back to your competencies. A good job interview is based on clear criteria for the position, mutual respect, and an open exchange of ideas.
