What is Blind Screening?

Blind screening is the act of screening candidates without subconscious bias. This is done by removing any unnecessary information. When blind screening, an employer can’t see information like name, age, racial background, gender, and sexual orientation. The goal is to diversify the workplace and ensure the hiring process is free from prejudice. It first started in the 1970s with blind auditions for orchestra and is even more prevalent today in business settings.

One of the reasons blind screening is so important is that the biases are often subconscious. Even an employer who is dedicated to creating a more diverse workplace may make decisions based on prejudices they are barely even aware of. Blind screening eliminates the risk of this happening. When used, the hiring process becomes significantly fairer.

Blind Recruitment is just as beneficial for employers as it is for the candidates. The hired people aren’t hired because of something unrelated to their work ethic or skill set – they get the job purely based on what they can bring to the company. By removing subconscious prejudices, the workforce becomes more productive, trusting, and engaged. Plus, having a more diverse workplace is beneficial for an employer’s brand.

To perform blind screening, employers can remove personal information from job applications, interview over a web chat, and use recruiting software that enables blind screening. Diversifying the interview panel is also a good idea.