Unconscious bias: Stereotypical hiring practices. | Gail Tolstoi-Miller | TEDxLincolnSquare

Once a Goth chick living in the East Village of New York City, now in the corporate world, Tolstoi-Miller shares her very personal story of bias and how recognizing her own unconscious bias taught her to say “so what”.

Inspirational. Motivational. And 100%, totally real. CEO Gail Tolstoi-Miller is a Jersey girl turned award-winning career coach, staffing strategist and author. Whether she’s advising executives on their broken hiring processes or setting job candidates straight about their blind spots, Gail doesn’t pull any punches. With over 20 years industry experience and over 15,000 job placements, her insider perspective will shock and surprise you. Gail’s companies include Consultnetworx, which trains companies on hiring best practices and recruitment strategies; and Careernetworx, which provides coaching solutions to candidates looking for a Happy Career and Happy Life (tm). Gail’s first book, Networking Karma, won IndieReader’s 2016 Discover Award for best business book of 2016. Gail is an NYU graduate, with a BA in Sociology.

[isatousarr]

Unconscious bias and stereotypical hiring practices are significant barriers to achieving fairness and diversity in the workplace. When decisions are influenced by preconceived notions or stereotypes, the recruitment process becomes exclusionary, often overlooking talented individuals who don't fit certain biased expectations. This not only denies opportunities to deserving candidates but also limits an organization's potential to grow and innovate.

To counter these issues, it's crucial to implement objective hiring practices that focus on merit, character, and performance. Structured interviews, blind resume screening, and diversity training for hiring teams can help mitigate unconscious biases. By fostering an inclusive recruitment process, organizations can attract and retain a diverse range of talent, creating a more equitable and dynamic workforce.

Breaking free from stereotypical hiring practices isn't just a moral responsibility it’s a strategic advantage in building a workplace that thrives on different perspectives, experiences, and ideas.

[EssaysCollege]

This is perfect example of why so many bad managers and horrible corporate jobs are out there.

[khalidahmed-frkk]

This is one of the comprehensive and great speech on unconscious bias . This is destroying the lives of millions of people everywhere and every day.

[oyindamolaayo-ajiboye]

Asking yourself "So What" helps you return to the conscious and focus on what is important. We also need to understand individual differences and stop being biased especially while hiring. Thanks for this great advice.
Really insightful!

[cartt]

Love this. Needed to hear it. I feel less anxious about looking for a different job, without feeling unconsciously discriminated against. That's my biggest fear whenever I go to a job interview that I'll be judged for the complexion of my skin, and everything else the list goes on. But I have to remind myself that I'm going into the job for the position, not for the preferences of the interviewer. I will not be afraid anymore.

[givealittlenow]

I've been using "so what" in all kinds of ways in my life since i had the privilege of watching you speak! Thank you Gail!

[HugDealer]

Fantastic talk Gail. Not only it is packed with useful content but it can really be helpful to remind yourself that just because you end up in a lot of NO piles, it does not necessarily mean you are a loser. Sometimes it is way easy to get beat down when you face rejection after rejection, for jobs you know for sure you would be very good at.

[SSchithFoo]

Recruitment "experts" are extremely narrow minded. People who can BS their way through interview usually get the job rather than someone who is really good at the job.

[Age_of_Apocalypse]

Great video Mrs. Miller! Every recruiter that I have met should watch it and more importantly, listen! Six(6) seconds to browse a resume and after that, they send an email or make a phone call to ask you for an information that is right in front of them in the resume. Astonishing, and depressing, to see the range of reasons as to why a resume is rejected. Your background and abilities have less weight than the way they have decided to perceive you. Apparently, and with no surprise, it is much easier to reject a candidate than to determine that he (or she) is (very) good at solving problems, doing a particular job.

[Husky]

@Gail Tolstoi-Miller I truly appreciate your theory and the simplistic solution of “So What?” Years ago, I became an advocate for diverse panel interviews when selecting for a supervisory/leadership positions. I saw diverse panels as a way to help reduce the impact of unconscious biases. From your talk, I realized I didn’t go far enough. In addition to the interview panels, I should have done candidate resume reviews the same way.

For those that believe you can’t reveal your unconscious biases, spend some time in deep reflection or better yet, work with a coach that doesn’t offer answers but pulls them from within you! Guess what, you’ll discover many unconscious biases.

[scotthandler]

Excellently stated, Gail. Keep it up. My personal favorite is when I kill it on the phone interview only to get to the in person interview, and then the 30 yr old interviewer gets a look at my middle aged face. Then, post-interview my resume goes on the NO pile.

[timbobau]

Oh dear... I have just come to the realisation that I have been discounting good applicants, without good reason, my entire career.
Thank you very much for the video. It provided me with a consistent way to eliminate my unconscious bias using the "So What?" critique.

[ambhpb]

If you can say to yourself "so what", then its not unconscious bias. That's what makes unconscious bias so dangerous, you don't know you have it, so you can't recognize it and you can't ask yourself, "so what". It sounds nice to boil your fix down to 2 words, but the reality is, uncovering these biases takes an enormous amount of time and introspection. Taking implicit association tests for a wide variety of characteristics will help uncover these. My opinion, if you are already at the "so what" phase, you have already done 90% of the work by becoming conscious of your unconscious biases.

[tanarri]

So you can be a brilliant candidate, but your taste of fashion or hair condition is not meeting the HR expectations... this is a real loss for many companies, who are actually looking for an effective employee and not a fashion model.

[joelarvizo]

I do have inconsious bias...and this help me to realize it. I will need to work on getting rid of this behaivor. SO WHAT???? great mantra!!!

[timothyfoxsr.]

As I continue to search for opportunities and continue to take a lot of "no's, " it's comforting to know that it isn't necessarily me or my fault.

[SmithCommaBenjamin]

It's been my experience, that any company that disqualifies you for petty reasons is a company you don't want to be apart of.

[kristenpressner]

'So.What'--exactly. Thanks for actionable advice to break down unconscious bias in hiring Gail

[beckyhalvorsen]

I love the "so what"! Does the reason for putting the candidate aside really matter? Makes you think twice. - Thank you for this post.

[Finding_Finance]

Perhaps you see an unconscious bias results In hiring someone but in actuality it is completely conscious.

I know I evaluate people much differently than others. E.g. some people care more about skills, others more about motivation and ability to learn, others potential to move up and lead. I think many things are important.