10 Most Common Recruitment Mistakes

Monday, October 21, 2019 TimeTec 0 Comments

The hiring process is one of the most arduous and tedious tasks, and possibly one of the most difficult processes. Making the right hiring decision is to find people whose values align with your company’s principles and objectives. If any business survives and thrives by the people they hire, though, hiring strategy is of paramount importance.

Be prepared for your potential candidates
“Hire right, because the penalties of hiring wrong are huge.”
Ray Dalio

If candidates were told to prepare before an interview, so should recruiters. Job ads on sites are generally lack of transparency. Simply put, the responsible duties that potential employees will be assigned to are commonly structured with unclear hiring policy. Recruiters often had their arrows missed the target because they did not get the duties right to give them enough power to get the hire right. A right job description starts by outlining the job, not the worker. Managers should discuss and review the job description to make sure it is current before hanging the ad up for vacancy. Getting the perfect fit might ultimately help you to recruit the right candidate, perhaps, a long-term valued company asset.

Be responsible for who you hired
“Acquiring the right talent is the most important key to growth. Hiring was - and still is - the most important thing we do. ”
Marc Bennioff

When a job description is up-to-date, recruiters will have a clearer picture of what (not who) to hire, since an overly-wide candidate pool can often divert attention during the hiring process. Moving on from the previous step, narrow down the requirements and characteristics that need to be successful in the slot. A tip to be better at what you’re doing:  Prep a personal ‘Interview Preparation Checklist’, ask yourselves sharp questions (E.g. Is the team truly need new blood to fill the spot? Is meticulous attention to details required? Is researching and writing skills important?) to be certain you are hiring who you are looking for.

Don’t rush the hiring process
“ I'd rather interview 50 people and not hire anyone than hire the wrong person. ”
Jeff Bezos

‘Good enough’ is not what an employer should settle for, especially when hiring at emergency. Most companies wait to hire until it becomes an emergency, for the most part, decisions are made pretty quickly after the first week of interviewing. For the record, candidates seen the first week do not represent all the candidates out there. Vital enough for recruiters to consider the broad applicant pool in searching for the long term fit and best candidates for the company. Rather than falling into another pitfall, it is better that the recruiters spend more time to broaden their candidates' options in order to optimize company productivity in the long run. 

Ask for enough references
“ Hiring people is an art, not a science, and resumes can’t tell you whether someone will fit into a company’s culture. ”
Howard Schultz

A resume is an advertisement that serves to promote the good side of a candidate. They made it look great on the paper. But, how true it is? It is the HR dogma to ‘trust and verify’ if all candidates speak of the truth or they were merely inflating their accomplishment to get an extra boost on their application in order to stay on top of the long applicants' list. It is the recruiters’ responsibility to find out the credibility behind those stories speak out of a candidate’s mouth to avoid making major hiring mistakes. No companies want to hire a person who they cannot give in trust and to entrust them with important tasks and matters. Checking references might come in handy for you to make the best choice possible. 

Be rationalized and Less subjective
“ Never look down on people unless you’re helping them up. ”
Jesse Jackson

Most would probably agree that the first impression is a big step toward successful recruitment. For this reason, these days, candidates would go the extra mile to prepare their attire and physical appearances. Despite some recruiters do not wish to be accounted for this assertion, affirming that qualifications are the principal quality they are looking for, it is inevitable that humans natural born “gut feelings” would raise a judgment the first time you meet a stranger. Speaking of which, ‘Never judge a book by its cover’.  A firm handshake or good eye contact does not reflect a person’s competency level. Recruiters should look the inside rather than the outside of a candidate to make sure you get the insight information of who he is, such as experiences, skills,  capabilities, etc. Scorecard all interviewees and keep your eyes on the main goal you need to achieve. Hire people who add value to your company will save you an extra payout.

Let them do the talks
“ Hiring the right people takes time, the right questions and a healthy dose of curiosity. What do you think is the most important factor when building your team? For us, it's personality. ”
Richard Branson

How frequent an interviewer stops talking during an interview, almost none. Research indicates that 80 percent of the time while an interview is conducted, interviewers are constantly picking up the ball rather than throwing the ball at the candidates. An important task that recruiters often fail to accomplish is to learn the “brain and heart” of their potential candidates. Brain demonstrates wisdom and judgment while Heart reflects moral ethics and beliefs. This is why an interviewer should seize this chance to maximize the interview, and get to discover candidates’ ability to confront unexpected challenges and their likelihood of developing into a valuable team member.

Asking Yes/No questions were thought to be the doing of the hiring process, the answer is No. Recruiters are encouraged to ask open-ended questions that prompt insight and thoughtful response from them, gives them the opportunity to reveal themselves. This is the moment where you get to scavenge their background, talent, and potentiality. So don’t waste it!

Too much of a good thing
“ Acquiring the right talent is the most important key to growth… Hiring was- and still is- the most important thing we do. ”
Marc Bennioff

This may be uncommon to come across in smaller companies, generally speaking, this runs through the blood of big companies or corporates. Candidates may be familiar with big companies with standardized hiring processes do usually have a panel of people from irrelevant department on a first interview. Likewise, you do not need several interviewers for a single opening or to have untrained staff asking inappropriate questions that lower the standard of your company. Even though this may sound like a higher-level sort of interview, this can become a waste of resources if those involved in the process are not exactly needed. On the other hand, this can intimidate candidates and send the message that you rule by a strict hierarchy of control. Another question is, how well it is to maintain every candidate gets an equal share amount of attention, all while not wasting everyone’s time? Keep the process simple and go for efficient results. 

Refuse technology 
“Purchasing high-quality devices and technology in the workplace should be seen as an investment, not a waste of money. ”
Andrew Hunter

Prior to joining, candidates would want to feel that they are in a competitive business rather than falling into a dead-end in the abyss. Businesses need to keep up with tech advances for them to recruit and retain talent. Bringing in technological enhancement gives extra skillset to your employees, it will undoubtedly profit your business in return. Organization stagnant and less innovative business most probably wouldn’t please a leader. To achieve this, recruiters should seek wiser and convenient methods indispensably to conduct productive recruitment process.

Fail to tackle social media platforms
“Don’t build links. Build relationships.”
Rand Fishkin

Candidates never walk in your company with their resumes or sending in their application without going through basic background checks on your company. Who doesn’t want to get employed by a notable company, get a better monthly paycheck and strengthen their skills in a growing company? These all rely heavily on the images you built through channels of communication, for example, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. The most painful truth most recruiters have failed to notice is, social media posts not only have the enormous potency to reach out to their customers, they are also reaching out to new talents in the market who are seeking for potential jobs in the platforms as such. Positive culture and professional development mirror through these platforms can create strong constructive impressions and increase engagement between company, customers and potentially, prospective employees. Weak social media presence can really hurt your company - remember, that includes the people in it.

Ignore company culture and values
“If you hire good people, give them good jobs and pay them good wages, generally, something good is going to happen. ”
James Sinegal

People who you hired are going to live out the vision for your company. You sure do want people who (once or presently) step over your company’s threshold to describe their working experiences or to talk about your company's fame and fortune in the best light possible. Interviewers can be overly-obsessed with talking about the mission when they are set to hit the bullseye and forget to showcase the company’s style and culture. Showing that you care about candidates’ merits (honour their skills), concerns (fitting into the role and team) and what they deserve (benefits, perks, salary, and flexibility), can be a big differentiator for candidates. Looking at the bigger picture, employees are the greatest representation of a company. Therefore, hiring ideal candidates and make them another happy employee in the business not only helps to uphold your stand in the marketplace but an extra shield to potential liability in the future.