Why CVs can cause issues
- There are many things that can cause bias.
It doesn’t matter what you put on your CV, whether it is where you are from, your age or your gender. There are many things that people use to make a judgement about you and your capability of doing the job that is being advertised, and it works the other way, too. For example, if somebody says that they attended Cambridge University, they may be viewed in an unfairly positive light, against somebody who may have much better experience for the role.
- It can take a long time to read through CVs.
If you have even 20 people who have applied for a job, it can take a huge amount of time to get through them, particularly if you need to take in all of the information that is on them. It is made even more difficult thanks to the fact that a lot of CVs are written based on what candidates think employers want to hear, and this means that often many applications are almost identical.
- There is a chance you won’t find your ideal candidate.
Everyone knows the skills that employers rate, and can list them on a piece of paper, but that doesn’t really prove that those skills genuinely exist. Simply typing a statement on a piece of paper doesn’t make it true, so even if it seems you have found the CV of the perfect person for a role, this may not be entirely true.
What are the alternatives?
- Anonymous CV
To stop bias, an anonymous CV may be a good solution. It can get rid of any judgement that may occur based on things like age and gender, but there will still be plenty of information on there that could be judged in this way.
- Computer software to filter out CVs
There may be some things that are requirements, such as qualifications or experience, and computer applications could be a good option by way of filtering out people who don’t meet these requirements. However, sometimes you might find that a candidate doesn’t have GCSE maths, for example, but they have headed the third most powerful company in the world – so there is always a danger with filter systems.
- Psychometric testing
This can help you to get a better idea of the people you’re hiring, and because such tests can be done on a computer, it shouldn’t take up any time from the interview process. By allowing tests like these to be carried out at the beginning of an application process, you can be sure that the applications that filter through to you are actually what you are looking for.
Ultimately, it seems unlikely that there will ever be a perfect solution with regards to finding the ideal candidate for a role. However, it is important that companies take the time to move forward with their application systems in a way that most benefits them, as it will make it much more likely that they will be able to fill the roles that are vacant.