How to Be Objective When Hiring Personnel

We live in a litigious society. People will file a lawsuit anytime things don’t go their way. Companies are frequently sued by job candidates who are upset when they are not offered the position. They believe that the interview process was subjective, and that they were rejected due to their race, sex, age, weight, nationality, religion or some other factor that should legally not preclude them from being hired, as it has no effect on job performance. A company can protect itself from these types of lawsuits by being as objective as possible when they are hiring personnel.

Instructions

1. Utilize blind screening processes when deciding which candidates to interview. Blind screening simply means that certain information is hidden, so that job candidates are offered an interview based solely on the strength of their resumes and applications, and the race, gender, nationality and other factors are not part of the equation. Blind screening can be accomplished with computer software that is programmed to hide certain information. It can also be done manually, by having an administrative employee remove the names and any other identifying information from the candidate’s resume and application before passing them along to the person who will be deciding who to interview for the open position.

2. Use skill assessments as part of your application process. A skill assessment is a pre-employment test that gives the job applicant a chance to prove that she has the skills that stated on her resume. Many skill assessments are web-based. The applicant logs in with a password, takes the assessment, and her scores are routed to the human resources department or the hiring manager. Skill assessments are given to determine the familiarity level the candidate has with certain computer applications such as Word, Excel and Access. An assessment can also measure how many words per minute a person can type. Skill assessments are very useful when certain skills are absolutely mandatory for the position. Anyone who fails to meet the desired score does not get an interview, and this is completely objective.

3. Give a structured interview. Ask the exact same questions. This puts the applicants on equal footing and makes the interview as fair and objective as possible. The interviewer can then compare apples to apples as he recalls each applicant’s response to the same question.

4. Give a panel interview. A panel interview is when more than one person is in the room with the job candidate. This allows each interviewer to form her own impression of the applicant and compare her thoughts about the person after the conclusion of the interview. The hiring decision is based on the consensus of a committee and not just on the opinion of one person.

Tips & Warnings

• Even if your company follows every one of these steps, it is still possible that a spurned job applicant could file a lawsuit.

Resources

• HR.com