Human Resource Blog

Choosing Between Job Candidates of Different Races

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There is a tricky situation that we need advice with our Alabama company. Basically, we have two excellent job candidates that have made it to the final round. They are different races. The white candidate is more experienced and we think would be a better fit, but we are tempted to hire the African American candidate because we are worried about a racial discrimination backlash. However, we understand that there might be reverse discrimination if we hire the African American candidate over the white one. What should we do?

Your situation is actually quite common. Across the country and for many years, employers have been faced with this question and have had to negotiate the answer in their own ways. In the end, you need to feel comfortable with your decision. It needs to be good not only for your other employees, but also for the future of the company.

As you have probably already discovered, you are up against a mounting wall of considerations; if you hire the African American candidate, the candidate can improve diversity at your company and chances are lower that people will say that you have made a racially-discriminatory move. However, if you hire the white guy, people might think that the move was racially motivated. Plus, your company is one person less diverse.

Here are some tips for helping you come to your own conclusions in this situation:

Try to make sure that even if you are tempted to hire based on race, that the hiring is done entirely by the qualifications and personality of the job candidate. You have already decided in your situation who would be best for your company, but it is important to put the skin color issue aside to make the decision based solely on paper and projections.

Make sure that your company has a clearly stated policy for handling hiring, terminations, promotions and benefits. This policy should state that the decisions are made based on qualifications and personality rather than skin color.

Make sure that each job position has clearly defined job goals and criteria for the candidates. When you match a candidate with the job in this way, you will be able to draw your connections on paper very clearly.

Have standards that are available and clearly stated for all employees across the company.

Make sure that employees are protected once they are in the company. There should be a policy for handling complaints for your current employees.