What Is Blind Hiring? How It Can Affect Your DEI Initiatives

Business needs and skills continually shift to address market demands and emerging technologies, making the hiring landscape increasingly complex and forcing organizations to be always on the lookout for new ways to drive efficiencies. To help meet these needs, organizations are turning to blind hiring, which helps drive hiring efficiencies and reduce biases in the recruitment process. 

But, before developing a strategy of your own, there are some key aspects to understand about blind hiring. Learn about what blind hiring is, benefits and challenges associated with this recruitment approach, steps to implement bling hiring, and helpful technology solutions.  

What is blind hiring?

Blind hiring, also sometimes called blind recruiting or anonymous recruiting, is a recruitment practice that removes personal and demographic information from applications and candidate screening steps. This approach enables recruitment teams to evaluate candidates based primarily on their experience and skills—rather than their name, gender, age, educational background, and other identifying information. 

Blind hiring is often part of broader diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which aim to proactively foster a diverse workforce, minimize biases across the organization, ensure equal access to opportunities for all candidates and workers, and create an inclusive culture.

According to a survey of 1,100 employees and 1,019 employers conducted by TestGorilla, 85% of employers surveyed listed diversity as a hiring objective in 2024. Additionally, 90% of employers surveyed who take a skills-based approach to hiring are seeing improved diversity compared to using traditional hiring methods. 

Benefits of blind hiring in recruitment

In the absence of blind hiring, recruiters and hiring teams may have conscious or unconscious hiring bias toward or against certain candidates during the hiring process—rather than evaluating candidates based on their skills. For example, a hiring manager may favor a candidate who went to the same university as they did or may unconsciously assume a younger candidate is more tech-savvy or up-to-date on the latest industry trends than an older candidate.

While blind hiring can’t guarantee hiring outcomes, potential benefits include:

• Reduced bias in the hiring process. The TestGorilla research cited above also found that 31% of candidates reported experiencing unconscious bias in the hiring process in 2024, an increase of 48% from 2023. Removing personal and demographic information as part of a blind hiring process can help reduce both conscious and unconscious bias and instead evaluate candidates based on their skills and merits. 
• Equal consideration of all candidates. When hiring managers screen and evaluate candidates manually, in addition to potentially introducing bias, all candidates may not receive equal consideration. For example, a hiring manager may be tired or stressed and choose to move forward with the first few candidates who look qualified rather than reviewing all applications. Blind hiring steps such as automated resume parsing and standardized assessments and interview questions help ensure all candidates are considered equally. 
• Enhanced diversity and inclusion. Reducing bias and equally considering all candidates also opens the door to engage more diverse talent, including those from different backgrounds and underrepresented groups. A diverse workforce also includes many perspectives and experiences, which can help individuals across the organization feel included and as though their voices are heard. 
• Improved employee performance. When hiring decisions focus primarily on skills and merit, rather than personal and demographic information, the most qualified candidates are more likely to be hired. This can lead to improved performance, as workers are matching with roles that best align with their strengths. Fair, transparent hiring processes can also contribute to a more positive work culture, which can also improve morale, engagement, and retention. 
• More efficient hiring processes. Many blind hiring steps involve introducing technology and automation into the hiring process to minimize biases. Another benefit of leveraging technology is that the right solutions also streamline hiring steps and reduce overall time-to-hire. For example, all resumes may be automatically screened as soon as they’re submitted, helping to eliminate workers who aren’t a fit for the open role and quickly move forward with qualified candidates.  
• Improved business outcomes. Research from McKinsey & Company found that organizations in the top quartile for gender, ethnic, and culturally diverse executive teams are 39% more likely to have better-than-average profitability than companies in the bottom quartile. By implementing blind hiring practices to hire diverse leaders and team members across the company, organizations can improve profitability and overall business performance. 

Challenges and limitations with blind hiring

While blind hiring offers many benefits, the practice also presents challenges and limitations. When determining whether blind hiring is right for your organization, consider both the benefits and challenges, as well as how your team can most effectively implement the new system. 

Potential challenges include:  

• Resistance to change. If your organization doesn’t already have blind hiring efforts in place, your team may be hesitant to learn and implement a new process. Taking a proactive approach to change management, such as communicating the benefits of blind hiring, scheduling training sessions, and setting an implementation timeline can help increase the likelihood of your team adopting blind hiring practices.
• Remaining bias in the hiring process. While blind hiring can help reduce bias in certain steps of the process, it doesn’t address the root causes of bias in an organization. As applicants move forward with steps in the hiring process and the final hiring decision stage, conscious or unconscious bias may still be introduced. To address this challenge, consider scheduling training sessions focused on minimizing biases in the hiring process and asking all candidates standardized interview questions based on their skills and experience.
• The risk of unintentionally favoring certain groups. Lack of information about candidates can remove important context and can lead to unintentionally favoring individuals with certain backgrounds or experiences. For example, if a role favors credentials that advantaged groups are more likely to have—such as attending a prestigious university—blind hiring may show a preference toward more advantaged candidates. Recruitment and talent acquisition teams should consider different options for blind hiring to identify the right solutions that don’t inadvertently favor or weed out certain groups. 
• Bias introduced by technology. Technology solutions such as AI hiring tools are often used to implement and streamline blind hiring practices. However, technology isn’t immune to bias. If algorithms used in an applicant tracking system, for example, are trained on biased data, this can also lead to favoring certain demographics and filtering out diverse candidates. As you evaluate blind hiring technology solutions, ask vendors about what processes they have in place to limit bias and promote fairness and diversity in recruitment. 
• Initial costs and long-term investments. Identifying and implementing new technology and training existing team members on blind hiring processes may require significant investment both up front and in the long run. However, in addition to reducing biases and promoting diversity, blind hiring can also reduce recruitment costs over time by streamlining steps in the process and increasing retention rates. Continually measuring recruitment effectiveness and quality of hires can help your organization ensure your blind hiring practices and other recruitment processes positively impact your business. 
• Poor team fit for new hires. Because blind hiring focuses heavily on skills, qualifications, and experience when evaluating candidates, this can present challenges with understanding whether individuals are the right fit for your team. Consider assessing candidates’ soft skills—such as teamwork and communication—during the hiring process and asking all candidates standardized questions about their collaboration skills. Doing so can help you identify candidates who will be motivated to work with existing team members toward shared goals. 

Steps to implement blind hiring

Whether you’re looking to embrace blind hiring for the first time at your organization or improve your existing processes, knowing where to start can be daunting. While many steps and solutions are available to implement blind hiring, the following common steps can help you get started. ‍

Steps include:

1. Writing unbiased job descriptions 
2. Sending automated pre-screening questions 
3. Automating resume parsing and screening 
4. Conducting one-sided video interviews 
5. Reviewing anonymized work samples
6. Administering standardized talent assessments

1. Writing unbiased job descriptions 

Developing unbiased job descriptions is an essential first step toward promoting diversity and inclusion in your hiring process. A biased job description may turn prospective candidates away from applying to your open roles, which can limit the diversity and quality of your applicant pool.

Ways to write unbiased job descriptions include:

• Using neutral rather than gendered terms such as salesperson rather than salesman 
• Avoiding terms that skew toward certain genders like assertive or nurturing 
• Limiting jargon terms such as ninja or rockstar
• Focusing on skills rather than background or qualifications 
• Using an inclusive tone and encouraging applicants from all backgrounds to apply
• Highlighting your commitment to diversity and inclusion directly in the job description

2. Sending automated pre-screening questions

Distributing automated pre-screening surveys as soon as candidates apply can help you weed out individuals who aren’t a fit and quickly move forward with the hiring process. To promote diversity in the hiring process and minimize bias, focus on skills and specific role requirements in pre-screening questions, rather than asking about candidates’ personal information or backgrounds. 

Here are some sample pre-screening questions to consider:

• When would you be available to start this position if offered the job? 
• Are you available to work the required schedule outlined in the job description? 
• What specific skills or tools do you have experience with that are relevant to this role?
• What metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) have you used to measure success in previous projects or roles?
• How do you stay updated on the latest industry trends and technologies?

3. Automating resume parsing and screening

Rather than a member of your team manually reviewing each resume and application—which requires significant time and can introduce biases—automated resume parsing and screening is an effective step in a blind hiring process.

Research from the University of Washington found that AI tools often show biases when ranking job applicants’ names, often favoring names associated with white men over other applicants. Taking a blind or anonymized approach to screening resumes removes details such as names, addresses, and education institutions to reduce biases in the screening process. The right tools will evaluate applicants based on skills and competencies, rather than demographic information. 

4. Conducting one-sided video interviews 

One-sided video interviews offer candidates the opportunity to record responses to pre-defined questions. Following the recording, responses are then reviewed by hiring managers or AI-powered video analysis tools. 

Sending all candidates the same standardized questions for one-sided video interviews and scoring each interview objectively using a pre-determined rubric can support fair, equitable comparison of all responses. Additionally, some video interview platforms also include capabilities to anonymize candidates’ identities, such as blurring their faces or transcribing responses, which can minimize bias and support blind hiring efforts. 

Despite the potential benefits of one-sided video interviews, a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted by Talker Research found that 43% of respondents said they felt uncomfortable with AI conducting job interviews, while only 32% expressed comfort, and 26% were unsure. If your organization leverages AI-powered video interviews, explain to candidates how the video content will be used, emphasize your commitment to a fair hiring process, and have members of your team make final hiring decisions. 

5. Reviewing anonymized work samples

Requesting work samples or portfolio pieces from candidates can help you gain a firsthand glimpse into a candidate’s skills and experience. For example, a graphic designer may share samples of logos or websites they’ve designed or a writer may include articles, reports, or other content they’ve written with their application. 

As part of your application process, ask prospective team members to remove personally identifying information from work samples before sharing pieces with your team. Also use standardized criteria to evaluate work samples, such as a rubric or scoring system on a scale of one through five. Reviewing anonymized work samples and scoring work on a predetermined scale can help your team evaluate candidates based on their actual work output, rather than personal details about their background. 

6. Administering standardized talent assessments

Talent assessments can help your organization objectively and automatically evaluate candidates on their hard, technical skills and soft, interpersonal skills. According to a survey of 2,366 HR professionals conducted by the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), 54% of respondents use pre-employment assessments to gauge applicants’ knowledge, skills, and abilities during the hiring process.

Types of pre-employment talent assessments include:

• Technical skills assessments that measure job-specific knowledge, such as software proficiency and industry expertise
• Soft skills tests to learn how each individual communicates and collaborates 
• Job simulations, such as a code review for a developer or mock customer interaction for a customer service representative
• Cognitive ability and reasoning tests that evaluate problem-solving and critical thinking
• Emotional intelligence (EQ) tests that help hiring managers understand each candidate’s ability to recognize, understand, and manage emotions on the job

Technology solutions for blind hiring

AI-powered recruiting tools and other technology solutions can help your organization streamline your blind hiring efforts. 

Technology solutions include:

• Job description generators. AI-powered job description generators write new job descriptions or review existing ones to ensure postings don’t include potentially biased or exclusionary terms, such as gendered rather than neutral terms. These tools help create more inclusive job descriptions that appeal to a broad candidate pool. Examples include Textio, UInclude, and Datapeople.  
• AI-powered candidate matching tools. Advanced AI algorithms can match candidates based on skills, experience, and measurable accomplishments rather than personal or demographic information. These matching tools analyze millions of data points to identify qualified candidates for open positions and use AI to predict likely candidate success and job fit. AI-powered candidate matching tools include iMocha, Eightfold, and Skillate. 
• Applicant tracking systems (ATS). Applicant tracking systems include many features to streamline the blind hiring process, including candidate databases, automated resume screening and parsing, and communication tools. Commonly used ATSes include Greenhouse, iCIMS, and BambooHR. 
• Video interview analysis platforms. AI-powered video analysis platforms use algorithms to review candidates’ one-sided video interview recordings, understand each individual’s qualifications, and predict their likelihood of success in an open role. Video analysis platforms review recordings for criteria such as communication skills, word choice, tone of voice, body language, communication skills, and level of interest. Platforms on the market include Willo, Hireflix, and VidCruiter. 
• Talent assessment tools. Many talent assessment tools are available depending on your needs, such as tools focused on technical skills, soft skills, work simulations, and critical thinking capabilities. Leveraging these tools can help you directly and anonymously evaluate candidates’ competencies to ensure a fair hiring process. Examples of available tools include Criteria Corp, eSkill, and HighMatch.
• Automated background check software. Background checks are often conducted toward the end of the hiring process. Most follow a standardized process and some providers also anonymize data to ensure personal information isn’t revealed, instead only calling out whether each individual passed or something was flagged . Background check providers include Checkr, ClearChecks, and HireRight.

Turn to Upwork for your hiring needs 

When implemented correctly, blind hiring can help your organization reduce biases in your recruitment process and build a strong workforce of qualified, diverse team members.

By following the steps and leveraging the technology outlined in this article, you can increase the likelihood of successfully embracing blind hiring at your organization. Because the process can be challenging and complex, you may also want to consider engaging a human resources manager or talent acquisition specialist on Upwork to help with your blind hiring strategy. 

As you determine ways to develop your hiring efforts and minimize biases, solutions powered by Uma™, Upwork’s Mindful AI, are available on Upwork to support your blind hiring efforts, including: 

• Job Post Generator creates an AI-generated job post in seconds—all you need to share is a sentence or two about what you’re looking for with your open job
• Candidate evaluations automatically review proposals and generate side-by-side comparisons, which can help you see how each freelancer or agency’s skills and experience match your job requirements

Get started today—create an Upwork account. 

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Upwork is not affiliated with and does not sponsor or endorse any of the tools or services discussed in this article. These tools and services are provided only as potential options, and each reader and company should take the time needed to adequately analyze and determine the tools or services that would best fit their specific needs and situation.