Employers explore ‘blind’ hiring to help them see more clearly

When bringing on new employees, employers typically want to learn as much as possible about candidates to ensure they’re right for the job. But can a hiring process that starts by hiding certain applicant qualities ultimately bring in the best employees? A number of employers have been using some form of “blind hiring” for several years now, and many tout the method as a way to overcome the unconscious bias that keeps employers from realizing their diversity goals.

Purpose behind blind hiring

The benefits of a diverse workforce—one that allows people of different backgrounds from different cultures and with different ideas to thrive—are well documented. Diverse perspectives provide an edge to businesses as they develop products and provide services.

Sometimes, however, recruiting and hiring processes fail to attract diverse candidates, and when candidates who could add to an organization’s diversity do apply, they are often filtered out because they don’t fit the mold that has unconsciously been put in place.

When résumés and applications are routinely assessed in a way that favors a certain type of individual—say someone from an Ivy League school or a man for a scientific or technical position—diversity won’t be achieved.

That’s why many employers have started hiding certain qualities in résumés and applications early in the process so unconscious bias doesn’t eliminate the most promising candidates. After all, names often reveal gender as well as ancestry and ethnicity, colleges may hint at socioeconomic status, and graduation dates or years at previous jobs can indicate age.