What are the different cognitive biases in a hiring process?

In business, we may think that we are all objective and rational professionals. However, in reality, this is not really the case... but that's normal! We are all human beings with our own life experience.

In this article, you will be able to understand an aspect of human psychology that comes into play in the recruiting process of all recruiters, the cognitive biases.

You will be able to understand the basis of these concepts so that they do not compromise your candidacy as a candidate, or influence your work as a recruiter as little as possible. These points are equally valid for international interviews, as cultural differences can be a source of misunderstanding and bias.

In the business world, acquiring and retaining talent is a critical issue for companies wishing to prosper and grow. Thus, recruitment has become a real science, whose different facets can be complicated to master in order to achieve optimal recruitment.

What is a cognitive bias?

Simply put, cognitive bias is a distortion in the cognitive processing of information . It is often a preconceived idea or thought that tends to be systematized in someone's head.

Setting the scene

Have you ever realized, when you met a new person, that you got along particularly well with him or her for some trivial reason? Maybe you realized that you studied at the same school, maybe she wore clothes from a brand you liked, or maybe she agreed with you on a lot of things?

In short, if you've ever noticed that you automatically liked someone because they had some affinity with your beliefs or personality, without even really knowing them, you've hit upon a psychological mechanism called cognitive bias.

cognitive biases in the recruitment process — Humans experience different cognitive biases.

There are many cognitive biases

There are many examples of cognitive biases in everyday life. These biases influence the way we perceive others, which in turn affects our judgment and behavior towards them.

However, these biases are normal. You may even experience them several times in a single day! They are often used in the same way as heuristics, i.e. mental shortcuts. When we don't have all the information we need to make a decision, we tend to rely on what we know or have already experienced to make a judgment. It is therefore faster, but sometimes, wrong!

The solution: be aware of these biases and try to remain objective!

In a situation where one must remain objective, bias can lead to unfairness.

Let's take an example of an employer who had a good experience with a candidate from the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec. Naturally, he or she might tend to think that all graduates from this school will be equally talented. However, this is a cognitive bias. They may be even better, or worse! In a hiring process, the recruiter should be aware of this bias and try to remain objective in his choices.

As you can see, in recruiting, the same psychological mechanisms come into play and can cloud the recruiter's decision. The recruiter should strive to remain objective despite his or her biases, but may well let personal beliefs influence these decisions.

What are the main cognitive biases?

There are many cognitive biases, but the most common are listed in the table below:

Types of bias	Description	Example
Prototype bias	The prototype consists of having preconceived ideas about the characteristics of the candidate sought. This leads to an overly restricted vision of the typical profile and to the formation of a mold into which few candidates will fit despite the relevance of their profile to the initial position.	A recruiter thinks that a visible minority person would not be as good in a management position.
Stereotype bias	Stereotyping leads to the development of beliefs based on real or assumed membership in a group (ethnic, age, socio-professional category, etc.) and to making shortcuts based on stereotypes.	A first class person is not going to be very sociable and may not be tactful with customers.
The contrast effect	When candidates are compared to each other and the judgment is influenced by the previous candidates, we speak of a contrast effect. The risk of this bias is to no longer refer to the requirements of the position and therefore to lack objectivity.	A candidate will tend to be judged favorably if he or she comes after a candidate who is judged to be disappointing.
First impression bias	Quite simply, this bias consists in seeing one's judgment altered by the first impression given by a candidate. Good or bad, the first impression remains anchored in the memory and has an influence on the judgment.	A person who is late will tend to be perceived by a recruiter as less suitable for the necessary profile of a position.
The halo effect or extraordinarity bias	Being able to influence either positively or negatively, the halo effect has the principle ofextending a feeling of fascination to the whole person.	A recruiter learns that a candidate has exceptional skills in a sport. They tend to find the candidate excellent in every way and judge them positively even if their profile is not necessarily ideal for the position.
Negative information bias	It is proven thatthe brain retains negative information more easily than positive information. This bias exposes the fact that it takes several positive pieces of information to counteract the bad ones.	Even if you have the ideal profile, a candidate who fails to answer several questions in a row will have to score more points in other ways to make a good impression.
Similarity bias	We tend to like people who are similar to us, whether it is in terms of ethnicity, religion or professional status. Similarly, people who do not share similarities with us will seem different and may be judged more harshly.	A recruiter considers positively a candidate who has attended the same school as him. Conversely, he thinks that an expatriate does not have the same social rules and does not consider him even though he has an equally satisfactory profile.
The Dunning-Kruger effect	This effect leads a person to overestimate or underestimate himself, depending on his level of competence. Low skilled people would tend not to recognize their weaknesses and overestimate their skills. People with higher skills tend to underestimate their skills and underestimate their abilities.	A highly qualified person may not value his or her skills, thus giving the recruiter a poor impression of him or her. She believes that anyone can do the tasks she considers simple as easily as she can.

When do these cognitive biases appear in a recruitment process?

These unconscious biases can especially appear at 3 stages of recruitment:

When writing the job description and defining the profile of the desired candidate
When selecting candidates
During the selection interviews

Recruiter in job interview — It is important to be aware of possible cognitive biases in interviews to avoid them.

What can be done to counteract cognitive biases?

Tips for recruiters

For recruiters, knowing these cognitive biases is the key to being able to counter them so that they influence their judgment as little as possible.

In order to counter cognitive biases, several techniques are possible:

Take a step back from the situation and recognize your own weaknesses
Appreciate different ways of thinking
Confronting the points of view of different candidates
Prior to the interviews, define precisely and objectively the requirements of the profiles needed for the position.

Tips for candidates

During the Talentech coaching process, you will have several interviews with our recruiters and with the departments of our partner companies.

In order to successfully conduct these interviews, which take place remotely, here are a few tips:

Conduct the interview in a quiet room with no distractions
Have a neutral background
Test the camera and sound (microphone, speakers, headphones, etc.) before starting the interview
Be on a fixed device, ideally a computer
Have a good Internet connection and enough battery in your computer
Be punctual, even and especially at a distance
Behave with the same rigor as if the interview were in person
Do not hesitate to ask questions to show your interest
If the interview is with your partner, make sure he or she is available

The bottom line: Everyone needs to pitch in for an effective hiring process

Finally, there is no magic formula for a perfect hiring process. Every interview will be different. However, effective recruitment tends to limit the influence of these cognitive biases. Recruiters need to correct these tendencies in order to conduct a more objective recruitment, but candidates need to do everything they can to present themselves in the best possible light.

Have you experienced a situation related to cognitive biases in a hiring process or do you know of other types of cognitive biases? Feel free to share them in comments or on our social networks!

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