audit-a-resume-for-bias

name	audit-a-resume-for-bias
category	resume
description	Audit a resume for language, structure, evidence, and disclosure choices that create avoidable bias or erase identity. Use when improving fair presentation without falsifying the candidate's history.

audit-a-resume-for-bias

Offer choices and evidence, not instructions to hide who the candidate is.

When to use

• Use before applications, coaching, or template publication.
• Do not infer protected traits, score employability from proxies, or promise that identity removal will eliminate discrimination.

Procedure

1. Confirm target role, jurisdiction, required disclosures, candidate preferences, and intended audience.
2. Review adjectives, verbs, titles, pronouns, names, hobbies, photos, addresses, dates, gaps, disability references, and caregiving language.
3. Identify unequal standards such as minimizing collaborative work, overstating “culture fit,” or penalizing nontraditional paths.
4. Replace vague self-evaluation with evidence-backed actions and outcomes.
5. Preserve chosen identity, community, accessibility, and values information when relevant and desired.
6. Remove unnecessary sensitive data based on privacy and role need, not shame.
7. Check layout, font, contrast, reading order, language complexity, and credential explanation.
8. Compare recommendations across counterfactual candidate profiles for consistency.
9. Present tradeoffs and let the candidate approve every identity-related change.

Done

• A bias-audit report records language, structure, disclosure, accessibility, evidence, and consistency findings
• Candidate-approved revisions are checked for truth, autonomy, privacy, and equal standards without erased identity