Creating Blind Resumes: How to Reduce Hiring Bias

Unconscious bias is a major issue in recruitment, and blind resume reviews are becoming increasingly common in an attempt to equal the playing field. This tactic removes key identifiers, like name and gender, so recruiters can focus on qualifications rather than personal details. In this guide, learn to write a blind resume and make your achievements stand out.

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Blind resumes omit personal information so hiring managers can study a candidate’s qualifications without the risk of hiring bias. Job seekers typically remove their name, age, nationality, and gender – including their pronouns. The rest of its structure is similar to a traditional resume, listing work experience and skills.

What is blind resume screening? This is not only the process of reviewing blind resumes, but it also refers to the act of actively removing personal details. Some companies run resumes through a multi-step process to block out identifiers before the applications move on to decision-makers.

Expert Tip:

Include your educational merits, including degrees, coursework, and honors, but remove the graduation date. The date introduces the possibility of assumptions and biases about your age, and it isn’t necessary to prove your educational background. Simply add your degree name and institution (and achievements and GPA, if applicable).

Blind resume screening significantly influences hiring decisions, combating both conscious and unconscious bias. While some discrimination can be intentional, the vast majority is done without our knowledge. For example, a recruiter hiring for a warehouse role may assume that a male candidate can lift more than a female one. Without information like names and photos, the employer must focus on the potential hires’ backgrounds and skills.

Hiring discrimination is a pressing modern issue, and because of it, many people are denied job opportunities they’re qualified for. This obviously affects job seekers, but it also negatively impacts companies. Organizations may end up hiring less qualified people for the position than other candidates when the ideal hire was in the talent pool.

This also impacts workforce diversity. Recruitment processes influenced by bias result in a homogenous workplace with similar ideas and thoughts. However, companies rich in diversity have many unique perspectives and greater innovation, keeping them competitive in a shifting market.

Follow along with our blind resume example to write a successful, bias-free application. Don’t forget to grab a good resume template before you begin – it should be professional, easy to read, and flexible enough to accommodate this unique format.

1. Write a bias-free header

Writing a resume header is the most important step for a blind resume, as this is where all your personal information is usually placed. Ensure you remove the following details to remain anonymous:

Full name
LinkedIn URL
Photo
Age
Pronouns
Nationality

What’s best to include? We recommend structuring your header like this:

Job title
Email address
Phone number
Location (city and state only)

Keep in mind that your email may divulge your name and gender. If your address reveals too much information, like “katedawson@gmail.com,” we recommend you make a separate email exclusively for blind applications. Use your profession, specialty, or surname to retain anonymity. For example, “marketingheaddawson@gmail.com.”

2. Focus on skills and achievements

This is the main focus of a blind resume, so put your energy into your qualifications, including work experience, education, and projects. If you want to fully dive into skills-based formatting, consider other types of resumes, like a functional resume.

List two to five work entries, describing your strongest accomplishments and keeping them relevant to the job description. Retain anonymity by omitting company names.

Then, detail your educational history, standout projects, and certifications. You want to provide as much information about your skills as possible without divulging personal details, so include any professional accomplishments that don’t reveal your identity.

3. Optimize for ATS

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) scan resumes for pertinent information before sending them to hiring managers and recruiters. This helps employers sort through hundreds of resumes and saves them time, but this means you need to create an ATS resume to pass through the system and get noticed.

Read the job description thoroughly and make note of key words and phrases. Incorporate them naturally throughout your application to show your relevance – the software will pick up on these terms, making it much more likely to pass through to the recruiter.

It’s also important to maintain a clear, readable structure. Prioritize clean white space, use a standardized font, like Arial or Calibri, and take advantage of bullet lists to organize information.

4. Follow resume best practices

While blind resumes are a unique format, it’s still vital to follow popular resume strategies to make yourself stand out.

Ensure you quantify your work achievements to show tangible outcomes and help the hiring manager understand your qualifications. Use measurable metrics and percentages, such as: “Exceeded monthly sales quota by an average of 15% for two years.”

We also recommend using the STAR method to write your resume. This framework describes the Situation, Task, Action, and Result to offer accurate details and put the hiring manager in into the scenario, providing a bigger impact.

To learn how to structure an effective resume and describe your achievements, review our realistic resume examples.

While blind resumes are a great way to reduce hiring bias, they also carry potential disadvantages, and it’s important to consider the whole picture before submitting one. Here are the main pros and cons of writing a blind resume.

Pros:

Reduces bias: Blind resume screening removes common personal identifiers that may result in discrimination, such as gender, ethnicity, and age. This encourages recruiters to hire purely based on experience and skills.
Promotes skills-based hiring: These applications help hiring managers focus on achievements and competencies, aligning with skills-based recruitment. This hiring method is rapidly gaining popularity as it provides opportunities for atypical candidates and people with unique backgrounds.
Encourages diversity: Hiring based on accomplishments and experience spreads diversity and opens workplaces up to new perspectives and beliefs.

Cons:

Some companies don’t allow it: Some organizations require you to provide certain details, making blind resumes impossible. For example, government roles require your nationality on resumes.
Bias still exists in other recruitment stages: While blind resumes remove bias from resume screening, it’s still possible to face discrimination during phone interviews, video calls, and in-person interviews.
Difficulty in using other important tactics: Blind applications make it difficult or impossible to use other effective strategies, including networking, social media, and portfolios.

The best way to promote fair recruitment is to go beyond a blind resume review. If you’re interested in anonymous applications, look for companies that use skills-based hiring practices like:

Talent assessments: Skill tests that evaluate candidates’ behavior and hard and soft skills.
Structured interviews: Job interviews with a script, ensuring the interviewer stays on topic and doesn’t ask different questions to each candidate.
AI-powered tools: Software that helps employers write inclusive job descriptions, capture video interviews, and track diversity metrics.

Famous companies like IBM, Deloitte, Google, and Salesforce have successfully implemented blind and skills-based hiring practices, leading the way in this inclusive recruitment strategy.

“Blind resume screening removes common personal identifiers that may result in discrimination, such as gender, ethnicity, and age.”

While blind resumes have their challenges, they’re an excellent opportunity to highlight your background without worrying about personal details getting in the way. Omit identifiers and focus on achievements, experience, and skills – they’re what matters most.

Blind screening is helping create a fair, inclusive future for recruitment, and we encourage you to give it a try. Head over to CVwizard’s resume maker and write a compelling application that clearly displays your professional accomplishments. They’re easy to edit, so create one resume with personal details and one without so you can easily apply to any opportunity that catches your eye.

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James Bunes

Author

James Bunes, copywriter, editor, and strategist, combines job search and HR writing experience to produce actionable content on resumes, career advice, and job search tactics.