Step 8: Conduct Interviews

Now that you have your shortlist, it’s time to conduct your interviews.

Understand How Bias May Affect the Interview Process

How Accommodation May Impact the Interview Process

When scheduling interviews, be sure to provide the accommodation statement as discussed above. Make every effort to provide the complete accommodations requested by the candidate. Accommodations can unconsciously taint a hiring team’s interpretation of a candidate. Certain disabilities may also make the candidate more difficult to interpret, such as a speech impediment. Some hiring teams or Committee members focus on these difficulties for interviewers rather than on the content of the candidate’s interview.

To Minimize Disability Bias

Ensure there is a full committee discussion about the importance of accommodation. Commit that you will listen to the candidate’s content and evaluate the candidate using the established criteria. Furthermore, accept that there is no standard interview process – there is only the interview process that is right for every candidate. If a candidate is legally entitled to an accommodation that changes the nature of the interview – e.g., established breaks for anxiety or panic disorder – that is the standard interview for that candidate. It is not abnormal, different, or a benefit to the candidate; it is what is required to bring equity to that candidate’s interview.

How Racial and Ethnicity Bias May Impact the Interview Process

The interview is often the first point of direct contact between a candidate and the search committee. A racialized candidate with a non-dominant accent may be excluded from the hiring process at the interview stage on the basis of being difficult to understand by students. Accent discrimination has been “used as a cover-up for racism and other kinds of discrimination” (Derwing & Munro, 2009) and often ‘communication skills’ is used as code for ‘only dominant accents are accepted’. 

To Minimize Racial and Ethnicity Bias

Accept that everyone is accented. In interviewing candidates for whom English is not a first language, don’t confuse an unfamiliar accent with their comprehensibility. It may take some effort to attune the ear to a new or unfamiliar accent. Ensure some racial diversity on your search committee. Also recognize that there are differences in cross-cultural communication, such as different perspectives on authority. If evaluating communication as part of your hiring rubric, be mindful of applying a Western view of appropriate communication style to your evaluation.

Mechanics for an EDI-Informed Interview

• Introduce all members engaging in the interview and have interviewers provide their pronouns if they are comfortable.
  • Use gender-neutral pronouns (they/them) unless the candidate has made their pronouns known to you.
  • Providing your own pronouns will usually make the candidate feel comfortable providing their own.
• Ensure all interview questions are free from language that would be discriminatory or pose a barrier to any member of a designated group.
• Ensure that the interview questions directly relate to the position.
• Avoid asking any questions about protected grounds under the Ontario Human Rights Code. The committee should review the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s guidelines on ensuring interview questions are compliant with the code. For example:
  • You should not ask whether the candidate is married or has children. You can ask the candidate whether they are able to relocate.
  • You should not ask whether the candidate has disabilities. You should make the candidate aware of the accommodation process during the interview. If there are particular physical or medical requirements of the position (e.g., lifting above a specific weight), these must be absolutely essential requirements, and they should be made clear to the applicant in the job description. You may ask whether the candidate can perform these requirements, but again these must be bona fide requirements of the position.
  • You should not ask whether the employee has any religious affiliations. The employer must accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs.
• Ensure all informal questions are free from potentially discriminatory language. Be careful with informal questions, as there is more potential for bias and a lack of inclusive language, because they aren’t scripted.
• Take note of any informal questions you ask that are outside of the interview script. You should ask similar informal questions of all candidates.
• Ask the interview questions in the same order, ideally with the same interviewer asking the same question of each candidate.
• Consider providing accommodations requested by some applicants to all applicants to avoid unconscious bias. If a candidate requests a 20-minute break, for example, consider providing that break to all applicants.
• Prepare the candidate in advance with information about the interview panel, interview length, and interview location.
• To account for different learning and communication styles, consider having the candidate arrive 30-45 minutes early and provide them with a copy of the interview questions ahead of time.

Ask EDI-Related Interview Questions of Every Candidate

As mentioned above, one of the most effective ways of recruiting equity-deserving candidates and equity-informed candidates is to ask EDI questions of them during the interview. This is in addition to asking candidates to craft an EDI statement during the recruitment process.

Consider asking some of the following questions during the interview process:

• What does equity, diversity, and inclusion mean to you?
• The company is committed to equity, diversity, inclusion, and human rights. What is your vision of what embedding EDI in the workplace can accomplish?
• What strategies and tools have you used to ensure an inclusive environment for any team you have been on?
• What actions do you take to support EDI within your company? How do you support colleagues from equity-deserving groups?
• What strategies and techniques do you use to assess your knowledge gaps with respect to EDI, decolonization, or anti-racism? Do you have identified knowledge gaps at present? Do you have a plan to access further education and training?
• Please share an example of a time when you noticed a colleague or fellow committee members was engaging in biased or oppressive decision-making. What did you do? How did you ensure the company was keeping EDI in mind?