Companies are starting to move toward more diverse hiring practices and recruiting from a larger pool of candidates, however there are multiple obstacles in their way. One challenge is the impact of unconscious bias during the recruitment process. Even with proper training, it can be difficult to set aside judgements on job candidates based on prohibiting factors, such as race or gender (Bortz, 2018). As Kim Ruyle, the president of Inventive Talent Consulting LLC, says “It’s part of our circuitry. Our brains make rapid, snap judgments when we meet new people”. Additionally, according to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research,

“…all else being equal, resumes with ‘white-sounding’ names (the study suggests ‘Emily Walsh’ and ‘Greg Baker’) got 50 percent more callbacks than those with ‘black sounding’ names (the study suggests ‘Lakisha Washington’ and ‘Jamal Jones’).”

Recruiters and hiring managers may remove qualified candidates from the callback list simply due to a snap judgment they made based on a name or address. There are multiple demographic factors on a resume or application that can be a possible source of unconscious bias (see SHRM’s chart below for more information).

any demographic information on a resume to as big as blind hiring software that takes the place of a recruiter reviewing a resume or any other qualifying information. In the UK, companies are using a software called Tribepad that allows applicants to be totally anonymized. From this, anonymized applications within the UK have increased by 271% from 2019 to 2020, which “demonstrates businesses are finally putting ED&I at the heart of their recruiting strategy, choosing new hires based solely on their talent, rather than their background” (Sadler, 2020). Additionally, the Coventry Council has seen a rise from 18% to 39% in minority ethnic applications since using Tribepad’s Anonymous Applications feature (Salder, 2020). Although blind hiring does not guarantee that unconscious bias won’t appear later in the hiring process, it’s at least “one tool in a bigger diversity and inclusion (D&I) toolbox” (Bortz, 2018).