A Selection Committee is a group of members who meet to review applications and interviews candidates for a position. Selection committees can be helpful in eliminating bias and ensuring fairness during the hiring process. They are often composed of diverse individuals who can provide varying perspectives and experience, and include employees from different departments and customers.
When selecting committee members, it is important to keep the diversity of your company in mind. Including people from all different areas of the business is vital for ensuring that all applicants are treated equally. It is also important to include a diversity of gender, race, and age. In addition, the composition of the committee should be representative of the industry. In addition, the chairperson of the committee should be a leader who will set the tone for the meeting and ensure that all members are treated fairly.
Before the committee meets, it should discuss the criteria and process that will be used to evaluate nominees. This will help to avoid unintentional “criteria-shifting,” which has been shown to contribute to implicit bias. This discussion should take place at a time that is convenient for all members, such as a conference call or videoconference with all committee members invited to participate.
During the interview process, it is important to remember that the committee is assessing you as a person and not just your technical skills. It is also important to be honest about the strengths and weaknesses of your candidacy. If the committee feels that you are not a good fit for the position, they should let you know at the beginning of the interview.
It is also important to remember that the selection committee is a group of professionals, not friends or family members. Individuals serving on the committee should not discuss its business with people outside of the committee (including the number of nominations they have reviewed). This is in keeping with SIAM’s conflict of interest and commitment policy. Applicants should also advise the committee chair of any conflicts of interest they may have with a member of the committee.
In addition to the above guidelines, individual committee members should consider the spirit of these guidelines in determining whether or not a conflict of interest exists. If a potential conflict of interest appears, the committee chair should report it to SIAM. SIAM will make the appropriate judgment on whether a conflict of interest exists and, if so, on how severe it is or is not.