Welcome to Recognizing Different Bias in Interviews.

Running a fair, inclusive interview isn’t just about asking the right technical questions. It’s about making sure every candidate gets a level playing field — and that means learning to spot and reduce bias, even when it’s subtle. When you recognize bias and focus on objective evidence, you help build stronger, more diverse teams and create a better experience for every candidate.

In this course, you’ll learn how to:

• Spot the most common types of interview bias, so you can catch them before they influence your decisions.
• Give every candidate an equal opportunity to demonstrate their skills, regardless of background or communication style.
• Run fair, consistent interviews that focus on behavior and evidence—not just gut feelings or post-hoc judgments.
• Address bias in real time to keep the process fair without derailing the interview.

You’ll see examples and get a chance to practice, so you can build confidence and help your team make better, more equitable hiring decisions. By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to recognize common interview biases, stay objective, and redirect conversations to focus on job-related evidence.

Bias can sneak into interviews in ways that are easy to miss. Four of the most common types are:

• Affinity Bias: Feeling drawn to candidates who share your background, interests, or experiences.
• Confirmation Bias: After forming an initial opinion—positive or negative—you start looking for evidence that supports that view, while ignoring information that contradicts it.
• First Impression Bias: Early moments in the interview, like a candidate’s handshake or initial nerves, color your perception of everything that follows. This can cause you to overlook growth or improvement during the interview.
• Halo/Horn Effect: One standout trait, good or bad, overshadows the rest of the candidate’s performance. For example, if a candidate answers the first question exceptionally well, you might assume they’re strong in all areas (halo), or if they stumble once, you might judge them harshly throughout (horn).

These patterns can quietly shape your decisions, often without you realizing it. The first step is to notice when they show up and understand how each type of bias can influence your thinking. Here are some examples of how these biases might appear in action:

Everyone has biases. The key is to be aware of them and take action before they affect your decisions.

Instead of relying on gut feelings or first impressions, try to pause and reflect on what’s really influencing your judgment. Are you focusing on specific, job-related evidence, or just a general sense of “good fit”? Notice if one strong trait, positive or negative, is shaping your overall impression, or if you’re only seeing things that confirm what you already believe about the candidate.

If you catch yourself thinking, “This candidate just feels right,” use that as a signal to dig deeper. Look for concrete examples from the interview that support or challenge your impression. By actively questioning your own thought process in the moment, you help ensure your decisions are fair and based on evidence, not unconscious bias.

To minimize bias and keep things fair, use the Structured Interviewing framework:

• Standardize your questions: Ask every candidate the same set of job-related questions.
• Use consistent evaluation criteria: Assess responses using a clear rubric or scoring guide based on predefined competencies.
• Focus on behavioral evidence: Ask for specific examples from the candidate’s past experiences (“Tell me about a time when…”), and evaluate their answers based on observable actions and results.
• Rely on evidence, not impressions: Make decisions based on concrete examples from the interview, not just your overall impression or gut feeling.
• Interrupt bias when you notice it: If you catch bias (in yourself or a peer), gently redirect the conversation to focus on job-related evidence.

Here’s how that might sound in a real interview debrief:

• Ryan: I really liked this candidate—they went to my university and seemed super easy to talk to. I think they'd be a great fit.
• Natalie: I noticed that too, but I want to make sure we're not letting affinity bias influence our decision. Can we look at the specific examples they gave about teamwork and problem-solving?
• Ryan: Good point. They did describe how they helped resolve a production issue by coordinating with the ops team. That lines up with what we're looking for in collaboration.
• Natalie: Exactly. Focusing on those concrete examples helps us stay objective and fair to every candidate.

Natalie acknowledges Ryan's perspective, but brings the focus back to specific, job-related evidence. This approach helps keep the process fair and consistent for everyone. By following the structured interviewing framework, you help ensure every candidate is evaluated fairly and consistently, based on evidence that matters for the job.

You’ve learned how to spot common types of interview bias, reflect on your own tendencies, and redirect conversations toward objective evidence. Next, you’ll get hands-on practice identifying bias in real scenarios and applying these strategies in the moment.