Hiring: inclusive selection and reducing bias from shortlist to decision
For hiring managers, interview panel members, HR coordinators and HR generalists who shortlist, interview and choose candidates. It builds on 'Hiring: writing a fair job description and advert' and 'Structured interviews: questions, rating scales and interview notes' (helpful but not required). You'll find where bias can enter each stage and pick a control for it, score applications against a checklist with blind sifting and two sifters, plan interviews that treat everyone consistently and offer adjustments, write a decision record tied to the criteria, and check selection rates with the four-fifths rule. It covers two jurisdictions: US federal guidance (EEOC, the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures and OPM's structured interview guide) and Great Britain (Acas and GOV.UK guidance on the Equality Act 2010). State, local and Northern Ireland rules can differ. This course is general guidance, not legal advice, and gives no HR or legal qualification. Your company's recruitment policy and HR or legal advisers come first.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- About 88 minutes
- Contents
- 5 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Identify where bias can enter a hiring process and choose a control for each stage
- Score applications against a criteria checklist using blind sifting and more than one sifter
- Plan interview arrangements that treat candidates consistently and offer adjustments
- Write a hiring decision record that ties the choice to the job criteria
- Calculate selection rates and apply the four-fifths rule to spot possible adverse impact
Course outline
- 1.Identifying where bias can enter a hiring processLesson · 12 min
- 2.Scoring applications against a checklist with blind siftingLesson · 14 min
- 3.Planning interview arrangements that are consistent and offer adjustmentsLesson · 14 min
- 4.Writing a hiring decision record tied to the criteriaLesson · 12 min
- 5.Calculating selection rates and checking for adverse impactLesson · 14 min
- 6.Hiring: inclusive selection and reducing bias from shortlist to decision: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 14 questions
- 7.Hiring: inclusive selection and reducing bias from shortlist to decision: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- EEOC: Prohibited Employment Policies/Practices (application and hiring, recruitment, reasonable accommodation)
- 29 CFR 1607.4: Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures, information on impact (four-fifths rule), via Cornell LII
- U.S. OPM: Structured Interviews: A Practical Guide (2008)
- Acas: Unconscious bias (equality, diversity and inclusion)
- Acas: Choosing who to interview
- Acas: Interviewing job applicants
- Acas: Using protected characteristics in recruitment (positive action, occupational requirements)
- Acas: Checking equality, diversity and inclusion (monitoring forms and surveys)
- GOV.UK: Employers: preventing discrimination (recruitment)
See it with your own jobs and topics
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