The Prime Minister has announced this week that private and public sector employers have signed up to recruit graduates on a “name blind” basis.
The initiative is to be applied by the public sector for all roles below senior civil servant level, applying to around 99% of positions.
Private sector recruiters including KPMG, HSBC, Deloitte and NHS Direct are signing up to the initiative, which will be applied for all graduate and apprentice roles. The initiative is already run by Teach First.
Employers need to ensure when they are recruiting that they adopt an objective selection criteria and apply this to all applicants. This applies to both the recruitment process (including the initial shortlisting for interview) and the terms of any offers made. An employer who does not keep records of the recruitment process (and the objective criteria used in deciding which candidates to offer a role to) runs the risk of a claim for discrimination from job applicants.
Recruiters should also consider removing details of an applicant’s sex and age from CV’s to reduce the risk of claims. However, going to the extent of removing any personal details from CVs, such as information regarding an applicant’s personal interests and hobbies runs the risk of depriving the recruiter from knowing important information relevant to an applicant’s personal qualities and suitability to the job.