Diversity in the hiring process
Hopefully you've cast a wide net and brought in a diverse pool of applicants with your job posting. Now your job is to explore all of your candidates' skills, experience, education, and personality, in order to find the best fit. Unfortunately, the interviewing and hiring process can sometimes present a chance to discriminate against a candidate, even if you didn't mean to. Under federal law, it is illegal to discriminate against someone because of a protected characteristic, including race, nationality, religion, and more. Many states have their own laws that expand the list of protected characteristics.
Examples of discrimination include precluding groups of people in your job advertisement, not hiring someone because of age, or hiring two equally qualified employees into the same position, but paying one more than the other. Only ask candidates questions that are truly relevant. For example, if you are interviewing a candidate who indicated she is pregnant and will need some time off when the baby is born.Source: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/administrative-human-resources/diversity-in-the-hiring-process