Will the anonymous CV finally take off? The French Commissioner for Diversity and Equal Opportunity, Yazid Sabeg, has launched a test of the anonymous CV in which BNP Paribas will participate, alongside 48 other companies. The kick-off was on 3 December, and the test will run until April 2010.

The concept of the anonymous CV was first floated by M. Bébéar in 2004 to promote diversity in the recruitment process and to fight against discriminatory hiring practices. The CVs have been wiped clean of names, ages and addresses of the candidates, leaving only their training and career history, in order help the candidates breach the barriers that stand between them and the initial interview. It should also reduce self-censorship.

The anonymous CV is not an end in itself, insists the Commissioner for Diversity, Yazid Sabeg, but “is a useful measure for breaking down the walls barring entry to the first interview, and makes it possible to neutralise prejudices. For a company, this is a very strong symbolic position to take.”

Prepared by Yazid Sabeg’s team, this experiment will take place in Paris and in six other départements, or counties, in France: Seine-Saint-Denis, Nord, Rhône, Bouches-du-Rhône, Bas-Rhin and Loire-Atlantique. The experiment is open on a voluntary basis to all companies regardless of size, from listed CAC-40 enterprises to Small and Medium Enterprises.

The results and tangible effects of this experiment will determine whether or not the anonymous CV will become obligatory for companies of more than 50 employees.

BNP Paribas has made the fight against discrimination a priority by defining discrimination as one of its key operational risk factors.