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Hacking attractiveness biases in hiring? The role of beautifying photo-filters

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Re: Hacking attractiveness biases in hiring? The role of beautifying photo-filters

#191

Post by turing_complete »

nostromo wrote: post #81
projektfu wrote: post #16

When I was in England for a short time I was tasked with screening candidates for employment (software engineers). As an American, I was taken aback by most of the resumes including photos. That's just not done here in the US. Some American HR departments might even send back your resume and ask you to resubmit it without a photo. It seems to be standard practice in Europe, perhaps to convince you that the person int…

There's a lot of data out there showing that attractiveness, fitness (as in, not obese), and tallness are all massive biases in the workplace -- much bigger in many studies than biases around gender and ethnicity even. I don't know why these forms of identity are almost entirely ignored, while we obsess over others. Imagine if tech companies published the height, weight, and facial symmetry of their workforces, like…

Putting physical fitness in the same bucket as height, gender, and race is a category error. Whether someone is fit or obese tells you a lot about their lifestyle and daily choices. You cannot change your facial structure or tallness (yet), but fitness is definitely a signal for discipline and mental strength.

Re: Hacking attractiveness biases in hiring? The role of beautifying photo-filters

#193

Post by Lio »

projektfu wrote: post #16

When I was in England for a short time I was tasked with screening candidates for employment (software engineers). As an American, I was taken aback by most of the resumes including photos. That's just not done here in the US. Some American HR departments might even send back your resume and ask you to resubmit it without a photo. It seems to be standard practice in Europe, perhaps to convince you that the person int…

I'm surprised by this comment.

It's definitely not standard practice to include a photo with a CV in the UK to my knowledge.

Anecdotally I've never done that at any point in my career nor have I ever been asked to.

I've also never seen a photo included with a CV when hiring.

Re: Hacking attractiveness biases in hiring? The role of beautifying photo-filters

#194

Post by mejutoco »

comprev wrote: post #181
projektfu wrote: post #16

When I was in England for a short time I was tasked with screening candidates for employment (software engineers). As an American, I was taken aback by most of the resumes including photos. That's just not done here in the US. Some American HR departments might even send back your resume and ask you to resubmit it without a photo. It seems to be standard practice in Europe, perhaps to convince you that the person int…

It’s not a UK cultural thing - never in my life or any friends who I asked have attached a photo - but it’s often done by applicants who might be UK residents when it’s considered the norm in their country of origin. Personally I hate it, as I know subconsciously having seen their photo, I _will_ use it as part of my evaluation which is unfair to other candidates.

What you describe is what I would consider a cultural thing. Here in Germany everybody attaches a photo (often a business-like studio photo), for instance.

Re: Hacking attractiveness biases in hiring? The role of beautifying photo-filters

#195

Post by Natsu »

joshgachnang wrote: post #20
Natsu wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The study is kind of weird, because that's simply not how things are conducted during hiring: nobody puts their picture on their resume. I think some other countries do, but the norms are decidedly against that in the USA, probably to avoid biases like this.

But it is very common to go search out someone's LinkedIn, which does have a profile picture.

This research makes it seem like a good idea not to provide pictures in general.

Re: Hacking attractiveness biases in hiring? The role of beautifying photo-filters

#196

Post by Lio »

alimov wrote: post #113
projektfu wrote: post #16

When I was in England for a short time I was tasked with screening candidates for employment (software engineers). As an American, I was taken aback by most of the resumes including photos. That's just not done here in the US. Some American HR departments might even send back your resume and ask you to resubmit it without a photo. It seems to be standard practice in Europe, perhaps to convince you that the person int…

That’s an interesting practice… I’m glad this is not the case in the states, aside from maybe applying for acting roles. I don’t know if it’s common practice nowadays but I remember there was a period of time when employers would request your social media profiles.. did they encourage something similar in England? Im asking because if they already encouraged photo submissions, this seems like a related piece of infor…

I'm not sure what the parent is talking about but this is not something we do in England for SWE roles.

Re: Hacking attractiveness biases in hiring? The role of beautifying photo-filters

#197

Post by serenitylater »

comprev wrote: post #181
projektfu wrote: post #16

When I was in England for a short time I was tasked with screening candidates for employment (software engineers). As an American, I was taken aback by most of the resumes including photos. That's just not done here in the US. Some American HR departments might even send back your resume and ask you to resubmit it without a photo. It seems to be standard practice in Europe, perhaps to convince you that the person int…

It’s not a UK cultural thing - never in my life or any friends who I asked have attached a photo - but it’s often done by applicants who might be UK residents when it’s considered the norm in their country of origin. Personally I hate it, as I know subconsciously having seen their photo, I _will_ use it as part of my evaluation which is unfair to other candidates.

No post body was provided.

Re: Hacking attractiveness biases in hiring? The role of beautifying photo-filters

#198

Post by bencollier49 »

hnlmorg wrote: post #67
projektfu wrote: post #16

When I was in England for a short time I was tasked with screening candidates for employment (software engineers). As an American, I was taken aback by most of the resumes including photos. That's just not done here in the US. Some American HR departments might even send back your resume and ask you to resubmit it without a photo. It seems to be standard practice in Europe, perhaps to convince you that the person int…

I’ve been a hiring manager in England for around 10 years and I can’t recall a single CV with a photo. I don’t know where these CVs were coming from that you received but it’s definitely not standard practice to send a CV with a photo here.

I wonder if they were working with recruiters who were scraping LinkedIn photos.

Very unusual practice for the UK, and slightly dubious, IMO.

Re: Hacking attractiveness biases in hiring? The role of beautifying photo-filters

#199

Post by SiempreViernes »

a3w wrote: post #192

On reading the paper I thought: "race" uhm no, you mean ethnicity or phenotype. "Rac"-ist language, though.

It's from the US, where "Race" is the official census term for indicating the phenotype of a person. There is a lot of pre existing survey work using the census categories, so that's why many people keep using them whatever the flaws in the definition might be (and they're probably quite significant flaws).

Re: Hacking attractiveness biases in hiring? The role of beautifying photo-filters

#200

Post by seunosewa »

turing_complete wrote: post #189
projektfu wrote: post #16

When I was in England for a short time I was tasked with screening candidates for employment (software engineers). As an American, I was taken aback by most of the resumes including photos. That's just not done here in the US. Some American HR departments might even send back your resume and ask you to resubmit it without a photo. It seems to be standard practice in Europe, perhaps to convince you that the person int…

I am living in a country where photos on a resume are the norm and for me it is the other way round. I am interviewing a lot of people at the moment and having a picture with the resume really helps thinking of the applicant as a human being, rather than just a character sheet with skills and abilities. It also helps to remember and associate resumes, it's easier to relate a portrait to a set of skills and a CV than…

I think most less attractive people would rather get to the later stages of the interview process where they'll get a chance to advocate for themselves. It's better than being screened out early and not knowing whether it's because you're ugly or because the qualifications listed in your resume aren't impressive.
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