Remote work has grown increasingly popular in the post-pandemic world. To reach candidates globally, recruiters are turning to tools like video call platforms to conduct interviews virtually. This shift has made hiring international talent and offering flexibility to both interviewers and interviewees easier.
But online interviews offer as many challenges as they do opportunities. While they can systematize recruitment, they also introduce dynamics that may skew judgment. One of the most pressing concerns is bias, which can subtly influence hiring decisions.
Biases Unique to Virtual Interviewing
While online interviews reduce some biases, they also create new ones that HR leaders must anticipate and address.
Recency and Contrast Bias
Recency bias—where interviewers recall the most recent information or candidate more vividly—becomes a real concern when conducting back-to-back virtual interviews. Contrast bias can also occur when a mediocre candidate appears impressive simply because they followed a weaker one.
To solve this, interviewers should take detailed notes using a structured response form. They should write down candidate responses verbatim and score them using a shared, consistent rubric immediately after each interview.
Virtual Impression Bias
Virtual formats often amplify “first impression” bias, especially when candidates only have around 45 minutes before interviewers decide to hire them. A confident speaker with a polished camera presence may seem more competent than a qualified but nervous candidate. Without physical cues or rapport-building moments that happen naturally in person, interviewers can misinterpret nervousness or awkward video behavior as incompetence.
To counter this, consider starting your interview process with a phone screening. Audio-only conversations strip away visual cues and help assess verbal communication, experience, and thought processes before appearance or presence comes into play.
Tech-Access Bias
Scheduling online interviews assumes candidates have reliable internet access and functional devices. Some candidates may lack these advantages, introducing class-based bias into the process when poor video quality or environmental noise becomes a factor in evaluation.
Interviewers should consider allowing candidates to complete asynchronous interviews or offer alternative time slots. If technical issues arise, be flexible and avoid penalizing candidates for issues beyond their control.
How Virtual Interviews Can Reduce Hiring Bias
When hiring platforms are used intentionally, they can provide structure and consistency. Here are several ways virtual interviews prevent hiring bias.
Standardization
A standardized procedure for each interview means asking the same role-specific questions in the same manner for each candidate. This helps avoid “similar-to-me” bias, where interviewers favor candidates with similar traits or backgrounds to their own. Standardized online interviews can prioritize factors that impact actual performance.
Using an interview guide with a standardized question set and scoring rubric prevents deviation and allows hiring managers to focus solely on relevant competencies. This structure also discourages small talk about commuting or home life, which may reveal socioeconomic information and trigger unintended bias.
Anonymized Skill Tests
Virtual hiring environments allow you to assess real skills through anonymous assignments. Especially when resumes can reflect privilege more than potential, these tests reduce the emphasis on education and background.
A candidate’s alma mater shouldn’t overshadow another’s startup experience and problem-solving ability. Anonymous test assignments focusing on skills like coding, data analysis, or conflict resolution help hiring teams judge the quality of work, making evaluations less subjective.
Multiple Interviewers
Online settings can reduce the challenges of navigating interviewers’ scheduling conflicts or different physical locations. This can allow for more interviewers and more diverse interview panels. Having three or more interviewers introduces multiple perspectives, diluting individual bias. Panel members can submit feedback independently, mitigating groupthink and reducing the pressure to align with a dominant opinion.
Key Strategies to Eliminate Bias in Virtual Interviews
To create an equitable hiring experience, HR professionals need an intentional system. Here are four key strategies to reduce bias and improve your virtual hiring framework.
1. Provide Bias-Awareness Training
Bias is hard to eliminate when it’s unconscious. Equip your hiring managers and recruiters with training to identify and overcome hidden biases. Implicit bias arises from seemingly harmless behavior that leads to unfair treatment based on factors like ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, and others.
Ensure your training also covers how online platforms can disguise or exaggerate specific biases.
2. Create a Scoring Rubric
A scoring rubric prompts interviewers to weigh each competence fairly on a consistent scale across all candidates. It reduces interviewee contrast and the halo or horn effect where one standout trait or first impression distorts the overall judgment. Ensure your rubric aligns with the skills and qualities needed for the job. Keep it updated, test it against past hires, and refine it as needed.
3. Review Your Tools for Algorithmic Bias
If you’re using AI-powered tools like chatbots or automated screeners, dig into their training. Tools can perpetuate biases if not carefully calibrated. Tech systems often produce twisted results, meaning they are only as fair as the data they rely on. Work with vendors to ensure fairness or use diverse hiring data to fine-tune these tools.
4. Audit for Legal Compliance
Bias isn’t just bad business, it’s illegal. Anti-discrimination laws vary by region, so HR teams should regularly audit their online hiring practices against relevant regulations. Have legal counsel review your questions, rubric, and data retention practices.
Build a Better Virtual Hiring Culture
Virtual interviews offer HR professionals opportunities to build fairer hiring systems. Combining structure, standardization, and bias-mitigation measures can remove the biases associated with remote interviews and tap into the strengths of this format.
Now is the time to make your process more efficient and equitable. The tools are in your hands—use them wisely.
Zac Amos is the Features Editor at ReHack Magazine and a regular contributor at TalentCulture, AllBusiness, and VentureBeat. He covers HR tech, cybersecurity, and AI. For more of his work, follow him on LinkedIn or X (Twitter).