One of the toughest parts of interviewing is tucking away preconceived ideas and prejudices and examining candidates based solely on ability to do the job while fitting the company’s culture and value system.

However, equal opportunity interviewing is an important aspect of recruiting.

I remember a story I heard years ago (so some of the details have been forgotten) about the efforts of an orchestra to recruit violinists. What they noticed was they kept hiring males.

In an effort to give everyone an equal opportunity they chose to change their initial screening methods by initially eliminating the visual portion of the interview. With the screening committee in the audience, each applicant would walk out on stage behind a closed curtain and perform.

The idea was that they would only be judged on their ability to play. However, the all-male hiring continued.

What they realized was that the sound a candidate’s shoes made across the wood stage was distinctive. High heels were instantly recognizable.

Fortunately, there was an easy remedy. From then on all candidates were required to remove their shoes before venturing out on stage to perform.

A lesson learned.

Obviously at some point candidates will be required to participate in a face-to-face interview. However, at least initially, here are a few ideas for embracing a more equal interviewing process.

- Telephone Prescreening

Before you ever invite candidates in for interviews, consider the benefit of screening them by phone. Talking to someone over the phone provides several benefits.

First, with the advent of cell phones it can be done from most anywhere.

Second, you can gather specific information about a candidate’s skills and experience without being influenced by other non-work-related factors.

Finally, since the telephone is still one of the most frequently used methods of communication, you can gain a sense of their phone personality and how it impacts the position.

- Email Questionnaire

A questionnaire that requires a candidate to provide written responses to specific questions about their work experience can be a great tool in not only gaining insight into their background but also in gauging their written communication skills.

It’s easy enough to email the questionnaire with a cover explaining the process to potential candidates. In addition, it narrows down the field to those who are truly interested. If a candidate doesn’t respond, it may indicate someone who lacks self motivation.

- Online/Onsite Questionnaire

This is the same questionnaire as above, except it is linked to your website or incorporated as a part of the onsite (i.e., computer kiosks in grocery stores) and walk-in recruiting effort.

In general, the idea behind equal opportunity interviewing is to do what you can to remove the possible bias that can creep into interviewing in an effort to consider each candidate solely on their skills, knowledge and abilities.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 22nd, 2006 at 11:50 am and is filed under Equal Opportunity. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will appear immediately, but I reserve the right to delete innapropriate comments.