Everyone wants to know the secret to great recruiting. Candidates want to know how to get into companies. Recruiters want to know each other’s secrets to finding great talent. No one seems to be sharing their secrets, so I thought I might as well fill everyone in…

Recruiting Secret #4

Hiring managers are more likely to hire someone who looks like them because there is a much less chance that the person they are hiring will ever accuse them of bias behavior.

Hiring managers in today’s employers are running scared! If I’m a male and I hire another male, I know that hire will never say I’m “Sexist”. If I’m a white dude and I hire another white dude, that hire won’t say I’m “racist”. Even though that behavior is probably indicative.

Hiring managers (male and female) are more likely to hire someone who looks most like them because they believe it’s a ‘safe’ hire. Safe they won’t get themselves in some kind of trouble.