CDP Recruitment & Retention Diversity 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A company notices its job postings attract fewer female applicants than male applicants. Which intervention is MOST likely to address this gap?
- Require a minimum GPA from all applicants
- Use gender-neutral language and remove gendered adjectives from job descriptions (Correct answer)
- Advertise only on general job boards
- Require applicants to submit a photo with their resume
Correct answer: Use gender-neutral language and remove gendered adjectives from job descriptions
Research shows that gendered language in job postings (e.g., 'competitive,' 'dominant') discourages women from applying, so using neutral language broadens the candidate pool.
Question 2: Which practice BEST helps organizations reduce affinity bias during resume screening?
- Allowing managers to select candidates they personally know
- Removing names, addresses, and graduation years before review (Correct answer)
- Giving extra weight to candidates from prestigious universities
- Prioritizing internal referrals over external applications
Correct answer: Removing names, addresses, and graduation years before review
Blind resume review removes demographic cues that trigger affinity bias, enabling evaluators to focus on skills and qualifications.
Question 3: An organization wants to attract more veterans to its workforce. Which strategy is MOST effective?
- Partnering with military transition assistance programs and veteran-specific job boards (Correct answer)
- Limiting outreach to general career fairs
- Eliminating skills assessments to reduce barriers
- Offering only entry-level positions to veterans
Correct answer: Partnering with military transition assistance programs and veteran-specific job boards
Partnering with veteran-focused programs connects employers with candidates who have relevant skills and ensures targeted, meaningful outreach.
Question 4: A manager consistently rates employees who remind them of themselves higher on performance reviews. This is an example of:
- Halo effect
- Attribution error
- Affinity bias (Correct answer)
- Recency bias
Correct answer: Affinity bias
Affinity bias occurs when people favor others who share similar backgrounds, interests, or characteristics.
Question 5: Which of the following is the MOST equitable approach to structuring interviews for diverse candidates?
- Allowing each interviewer to ask any question they choose
- Using standardized, behavioral questions and consistent scoring rubrics for all candidates (Correct answer)
- Conducting informal coffee chats instead of structured interviews
- Adjusting questions based on each candidate's background
Correct answer: Using standardized, behavioral questions and consistent scoring rubrics for all candidates
Structured interviews with consistent questions and rubrics reduce subjective bias and ensure all candidates are evaluated on the same criteria.
Question 6: An employee from an underrepresented group leaves the company citing a lack of growth opportunities. Which retention strategy would BEST address this root cause?
- Offering a one-time salary increase
- Creating formal sponsorship and mentorship programs tied to career advancement (Correct answer)
- Hosting a single diversity awareness workshop
- Updating the company's diversity statement on its website
Correct answer: Creating formal sponsorship and mentorship programs tied to career advancement
Sponsorship and mentorship programs directly address career advancement gaps by connecting employees with advocates who actively promote their growth.
Question 7: Which metric is MOST useful for measuring the effectiveness of diversity-focused recruitment efforts over time?
- Total number of job applications received
- Diversity representation at each stage of the hiring funnel (Correct answer)
- Average time-to-fill for open positions
- Number of diversity training sessions held
Correct answer: Diversity representation at each stage of the hiring funnel
Tracking representation at each funnel stage (application, interview, offer, hire) reveals where diverse candidates are being lost and guides targeted interventions.
CDP Recruitment & Retention Diversity 2
A company notices its job postings attract fewer female applicants than male applicants.
Which intervention is MOST likely to address this gap?