Step 7: Review Applications

Now that you’ve developed your hiring rubric, posted your job ad, and received your applications, it’s time to review them through an equity-informed lens.

Review Applications Using the Hiring Rubric

Every member of the hiring committee should:

• Conduct an initial review of the applications and set aside those that are clearly unqualified (e.g., completely outside the relevant field; mistakenly applied to the position; does not have requisite education). Be careful not to exclude candidates with transferable skills or weak qualifications. This step is not to create your shortlist but rather to ensure you have adequate time to dedicate to the rest of the applications.
• Score every remaining application using the hiring rubric and the predetermined criteria you’ve arrived at with your hiring team or Committee.
• Set aside an adequate amount of time to complete this review and dedicate the same amount of time to every application.
• Undertake this process of scoring candidates individually before deliberating collectively.
• Actively challenge biased thinking by applying the rule of 3 – “What are 3 pieces of objective evidence I see to support my score in this category?”

The hiring team or committee as a whole should:

• Discuss each Committee Member’s evaluation of the candidate.
• Spend an equal time reviewing and deliberating on each candidate.
• Contemplate the reasons to include a candidate on the shortlist, rather than the reasons to exclude candidates from the shortlist.
• If diversity is limited, discuss whether there may have been barriers during the application process. You might also return to applications from equity-deserving candidates and see if there’s anything in their application that may have been overlooked.

Consider these guiding questions as another debiasing exercise

Once you’ve arrived at your shortlist, take a moment with your hiring team or Committee to debrief, ask yourselves these questions, and ensure you’ve taken bias into account. If anyone on the Committee has hesitations about the shortlist, revisit the applications until everyone feels comfortable with the decision.

Emotions and Motivations

• Did I think about one or more candidate excessively or less than is typical?
• Have I been more or less diligent than is typical?
• Is my opinion narrower or broader than requested?
• Does my opinion resemble my opinions in other similar scenarios?
• Have I had interpersonal difficulty with other parties connected to this candidate or search / review process?
• Do others suspect me of bias?
• Does this candidate resonate with my sociopolitical or personal beliefs?
• Do I have pre-existing emotions or motivations about an issue or person related to this search / review process?
• Have I failed to follow up on discrepancies or details in this search / review process?

Fund of Knowledge

• Is my personal background appropriate for this review?
• Do I have a personal relationship with any candidates?
• Am I more knowledgeable about one or more candidates than others?

Information-Processing Style

• Do I have an affinity or dislike for any candidates?
• Do any résumés remind me in any way about myself or somebody I know in positive or negative ways?
• Does my reasoning involve unchecked heuristics and biases?
• Are there things about the résumé that particularly influence my impression? Are they relevant to the job?
• What assessments have I already made about the person? Are these grounded in solid information or are they simply my interpretations?