Collecting candidate demographic data allows you to make more confident, informed hiring decisions that lead to a more inclusive hiring process. Greenhouse offers multiple ways to collect candidate demographic data.
Note: This article includes general recommendations for using each collection method. We encourage you to work with your legal team to review the use cases for each method and pick the right option for your organization.
Choose a data collection method
U.S. standard demographic questions
Standard demographic questions include pre-made, best-practice survey questions for customers based on Greenhouse's own practices to collect demographic information for U.S.-based applicants. You can also add the question set to your candidate survey.
Standard demographic questions allow organizations that have jobs in the U.S. to collect consistent candidate data.
Custom demographic questions
Custom demographic questions allow you to address your organization's specific needs with personalized demographic questions and answers. You can also add the question set to your candidate survey.
Custom demographic questions are only available for Expert tier customers. Those with an Expert tier subscription can also utilize detailed demographic reports that provide a view of job activity by demographic group.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) questions
The EEOC questionnaire is a set of federally-approved questions about race, gender, veteran status, and disability status.
The EEOC survey and reporting functionality are intended to be used by Greenhouse customers who are government contractors or federal entities. We recommend you only utilize these features only if your organization fits that criteria.
If you do not fit these criteria and are using the EEOC report to gather demographic data without the appropriate level of DE&I reporting, it could represent a risk to your organization. Speak with your legal counsel to better understand the benefits and risks of accessing and reviewing this type of information.
Note: Neither the standard demographic question set nor the custom demographic question set replaces the standard EEOC questions for companies that are required by law to report on candidate demographic data. Please consult with your company’s own legal counsel before enabling this question set, as there are risks inherent to collecting demographic data where it is not required to do so, and Greenhouse disclaims any legal responsibility for the wording of the questions themselves. In addition, Greenhouse will not be responsible for any liability that may arise out of your use of this question set.
Combine data collection methods
Standard demographic questions + custom demographic questions
While you can only have one or the other on a job post, you can use them with different job posts.
Example: Imagine your organization has some job posts located in the U.S. and others located internationally. You can combine demographic question sets by using standard demographic questions on your U.S.-based job posts and custom demographic questions on your other job posts.
EEOC + custom demographic questions
If you want to collect information beyond what you can collect with EEOC, you can use custom demographic questions to do so. Job applications with both questions enabled will show your custom demographic question set followed by the EEOC questionnaire.
EEOC + standard demographic questions
While it is possible to combine these two, we don't generally recommend it because there may be overlap in the questions which can cause unnecessary extra data.
Note: All in-app candidate demographic data is anonymized for compliance purposes and to reduce unconscious bias in the hiring process. Your organization's Greenhouse Recruiting users can only view anonymized candidate demographic data. In addition, Greenhouse Technical Support cannot access candidate demographic data unless given explicit consent by your organization.