9 ms·

Completely blind interviews by interactive text chat session only are the closet thing to fair I can conceive; possibly with a shared blackboard or big screen o

Completely blind interviews by interactive text chat session only are the closet thing to fair I can conceive; possibly with a shared blackboard or big screen of somekind on provided interview hardware.

gfody 6y ago
I'm sure zoom filters that detect all such potential prejudice bearing signals and either sanitize them or translate them into your preferred locale (presumably your own - the one to which you're most sensitive) just like Vinge's localizers that were able to sense subtle emotional cues in the clicks and bzzts of an arachnid race and translate them in real time to cartoon caricature projections for human scouts aren't too far away.
- throwaway201103 6y ago
  Why not go all the way and introduce a virus that carries a genetic mutation to make everyone the same shade of light brown with similar eyes, hair, nose, and lips. Spoiler: we'd just discriminate on some other basis. It's what we do.
whbrown 6y ago
Hiring people you'd work with on a daily basis without ever having spoken to them sounds like a recipe for disaster. Surely there's a better way of acknowledging and mitigating harmful stereotypes?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- stevekemp 6y ago
  I worked for a company that setup "blind" interviews, for the early stage. You'd apply for a position, make up your own alias and would have a "general chat" over IM. If that went well then you'd have a "real" second/final interview. The system was designed to remove some of the bias from the process, and seemed to work well for that.
  - throwaway201103 6y ago
    How did you know that you were talking to the same person both times?
    - stevekemp 6y ago
      Interesting question! It wouldn't be too difficult to fake things, we'd setup a dedicated email alias for each candidate so "$id@jobs.example.com", but it wouldn't be impossible for people to get a friend to do the first part. I know it crossed my mind that multiple people could be sharing a keyboard during the blind-sessions.
    - spunker540 6y ago
      Do companies hiring exclusively via video calls (due to covid) actually make sure that the person is the same in each round? Or is the same person who shows up on day one?
      - lotsofpulp 6y ago
        The probability is being caught is much higher, and therefore reduces the probability of people trying to cheat. I also imagine you would be interviewed by people you are working with, so clearly they would notice in day one.
  - ThePadawan 6y ago
    That's very progressive! I struggle with the opposite in Europe. (Many) Less progressive companies still ask for CVs with date of birth and photograph. Even if they're fine with "blind" CVs, the first interview will invariably be just a 15min video call with someone from HR who doesn't know the first thing about the position, and is just there to look at your face and listen to you reiterate your CV.
    - circlefavshape 6y ago
      Live in Ireland (age 48). I've never put my photo or DOB on an application
learnstats2 6y ago
Having a broadly diverse team making hiring decisions might be a more useful solution.
- waterhouse 6y ago
  I believe some studies have found members of certain groups to be just as, if not more, inclined to make disparate judgments against members of their own group. (I'm thinking of one that involved male and female professors evaluating male and female applicants for something like PhD or postdoc positions.) When disparate outcomes continued to happen, there would be further accusations (possibly "internalized x-ism" or "the 'non-diverse' members of the group must be intimidating the others") and further calls for intervention. Making it obviously impossible for the judges to pick up the signals on which to discriminate, if it can be done, is much better.

gfody 6y ago

I'm sure zoom filters that detect all such potential prejudice bearing signals and either sanitize them or translate them into your preferred locale (presumably your own - the one to which you're most sensitive) just like Vinge's localizers that were able to sense subtle emotional cues in the clicks and bzzts of an arachnid race and translate them in real time to cartoon caricature projections for human scouts aren't too far away.

throwaway201103 6y ago
Why not go all the way and introduce a virus that carries a genetic mutation to make everyone the same shade of light brown with similar eyes, hair, nose, and lips. Spoiler: we'd just discriminate on some other basis. It's what we do.

whbrown 6y ago

Hiring people you'd work with on a daily basis without ever having spoken to them sounds like a recipe for disaster. Surely there's a better way of acknowledging and mitigating harmful stereotypes?

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
stevekemp 6y ago
I worked for a company that setup "blind" interviews, for the early stage. You'd apply for a position, make up your own alias and would have a "general chat" over IM. If that went well then you'd have a "real" second/final interview. The system was designed to remove some of the bias from the process, and seemed to work well for that.
- throwaway201103 6y ago
  How did you know that you were talking to the same person both times?
  - stevekemp 6y ago
    Interesting question! It wouldn't be too difficult to fake things, we'd setup a dedicated email alias for each candidate so "$id@jobs.example.com", but it wouldn't be impossible for people to get a friend to do the first part. I know it crossed my mind that multiple people could be sharing a keyboard during the blind-sessions.
  - spunker540 6y ago
    Do companies hiring exclusively via video calls (due to covid) actually make sure that the person is the same in each round? Or is the same person who shows up on day one?
    - lotsofpulp 6y ago
      The probability is being caught is much higher, and therefore reduces the probability of people trying to cheat. I also imagine you would be interviewed by people you are working with, so clearly they would notice in day one.
- ThePadawan 6y ago
  That's very progressive! I struggle with the opposite in Europe. (Many) Less progressive companies still ask for CVs with date of birth and photograph. Even if they're fine with "blind" CVs, the first interview will invariably be just a 15min video call with someone from HR who doesn't know the first thing about the position, and is just there to look at your face and listen to you reiterate your CV.
  - circlefavshape 6y ago
    Live in Ireland (age 48). I've never put my photo or DOB on an application

learnstats2 6y ago

Having a broadly diverse team making hiring decisions might be a more useful solution.

waterhouse 6y ago
I believe some studies have found members of certain groups to be just as, if not more, inclined to make disparate judgments against members of their own group. (I'm thinking of one that involved male and female professors evaluating male and female applicants for something like PhD or postdoc positions.) When disparate outcomes continued to happen, there would be further accusations (possibly "internalized x-ism" or "the 'non-diverse' members of the group must be intimidating the others") and further calls for intervention. Making it obviously impossible for the judges to pick up the signals on which to discriminate, if it can be done, is much better.