MightyRecruiter10 Common Hiring Mistakes
Hiring the right fit for your organization’s open positions is one of the most influential decisions you can make when it comes to the success of your venture. Bringing the wrong person on board can be extremely costly and even potentially devastating to your business depending on the size and the nature of the position. Whatever job you’re looking to fill, you’ll want to avoid these common hiring mistakes in order to increase the chances of appointing the best candidate.
1.Not Having a Clear Picture of What You Want
It’s surprisingly common for those handling recruiting and hiring to start the process without having a list of job requirements and skills necessary on hand. This can be a huge energy waster if you end up interviewing people who could never do the job to your specifications. A clear outline of these needs also helps jobseekers identify whether they would be a good fit and should apply.
2.Hiring With a Desperate Mindset
When you need someone to fill a role, it’s tempting to do the job as quickly as possible, and this is one of the most common hiring mistakes. Keep in mind, however, that decisions made with this as the overarching goal are often ones people end up regretting, as they’ve brought on someone who ultimately wasn’t a good fit. Take the time to hire the proper way, by interviewing a number of qualified applicants and thoughtfully considering your options, no matter how rushed you feel.
3.Moving Senior Employees Directly Into Management
When people who have been in their roles for longer than anyone else are promoted mainly because of this fact, it can have drastic consequences. Just because someone has been working in his or her position for a long time does not mean they have the managerial skills necessary to do the job, or even the desire to do it. Consider other options, even though this will likely require more work on your part.
4.Hiring Your Doppelganger
Extensive research has shown that people get evaluated more positively when considered to share certain similarities, and this contributes to common hiring mistakes. Commonalities in attitude, physical appearance, experience, background, and more all raise the chances that people will get along with each other. When hiring, this can be dangerous, as it can mask areas where an applicant would fall short on skills required for the job.
5.Foregoing a Challenge-Focused Task
Roles often require skillsets that are relatively simple to test for, but hiring managers sometimes neglect to take this valuable step. If you’re hiring a teacher, ask the applicant to describe how he or she would deal with a particular difficult situation common in the job. If you’re looking for an accountant, show them a P & L and request that he or she explain everything to you.
6.Over-Selling the Job
It’s important to ïsellï your business and the career potential of the position, of course. However, don’t neglect to mention the challenges that the job requires or risk the chance of common hiring mistakes. Be realistic and upfront about these facets and you’ll increase the chances of employing someone who knows what he or she is getting into.
7.Not Hiring for Fit
Often errors are made in hiring when employees are brought in that do not have values that align with the business that hired them. It’s much more effective to hire for fit and then train for skills when deciding on the ideal candidate.
8.Skipping Training
Even if you’re hiring someone who’s been handling all of the tasks in a previous job that they will be charged with in the new role, remember that work is handled in a different manner in each place. Make sure there’s an organized onboarding plan that will encourage success in assimilating new workers into your configuration and you’ll undoubtedly notice an increase in the productivity of new hires.
9.Eschewing Your Due Diligence
Even if the resume is stellar and the interview went brilliantly, don’t skip over the reference and background checks. These can be indispensible clues in making or breaking a candidate’s hire. You also may want to make the employment temp-to-hire, depending on the nature of the work, so that you can see how it goes before you permanently bring him or her into the fold.
10.Avoiding a Social Media Check
These days it’s essential to do a scan of an applicant’s profiles on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Especially if your candidate will be interacting with clients and customers, you want any information that’s out there to be private or appropriate for public consumption.
For more about common hiring mistakes and other guidelines for drafting outstanding workers, check out the resources here on Mighty Recruiter.