Job Description
Did we use gender neutral language?
Did we include the appropriate number of years of experience required for the role?
Are the skills listed aligned with the tasks required?
Are the skills required or can they be acquired?
Did we evaluate the education requirement?
Are the qualities/abilities both listed and reasonable?
Did we include enough information about the culture of the organization in the job posting?
Advertising the Job
Did we advertise the job on diverse channels and with diverse organizations?
Did we allow enough time to find diverse candidates?
Did we target diverse candidates with proactive sourcing?
Did we include salary ranges based on internal and external data?
Did we include language to encourage applicants covered under the ADA?
Hiring Committee
Is the hiring committee diverse?
Did we train the staff on conducting unbiased interviews?
Did we develop the evaluation criteria for the role?
Did we offer the candidate options for interview schedule modality?
Did we create an interview question template for consistency?
Are the required exercises (presentation, case study) appropriate for the role, and are there options given for the delivery?
Hiring Process
Did we remove/mask the name, location, education/colleges, associations, and pictures from the candidate information prior to the interviews?
Did we have at least 20% diversity in our candidate pool?
Did we ask each candidate the same questions in the same order?
Did we refrain from asking multi-part questions?
Did we give the candidate enough time to answer questions?
Did we check that the interview questions would not result in bias against the candidate?
Did we ensure all candidates were interviewed in the same environment (in person vs. Zoom vs. the same conference room)?
Candidate Evaluation
Did we screen the candidates in vs. screening them out?
Did we evaluate the candidates based on the essential functions - skills, education, and job requirements?
Did we ensure all qualifications (non-negotiables) apply to all candidates?
Did we review the evaluation form for any biases? Such as halo/horn effects, affinity bias, and name bias.
Did we use the same evaluation criteria that was agreed upon prior to the interviews and rank all candidates accordingly?
Did we evaluate each candidate based on their cultural or skill adds and on bringing in the talent that we are missing on the team?
Did we listen to and consider input from all interviewers on the panel?
Dima Ghawi is the founder of a global talent development company with a primary mission for advancing individuals in leadership. Through keynote speeches, training programs and executive coaching, Dima has empowered thousands of professionals across the globe to expand their leadership potential. In addition, she provides guidance to business executives to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and to implement a multi-year plan for advancing quality leaders from within the organization.
Reach her at DimaGhawi.com and BreakingVases.com.
