Hiring mistakes not only costs time and money but can also lead to low employee morale. A sophisticated recruiting and hiring process is critical to any organization’s success. According to LinkedIn, 70% of the global workforce is made up of passive talent who aren’t actively job searching, and the remaining 30% are active job seekers.
Understanding the mistakes to avoid when assessing candidates and eventually bringing on the finest personnel is critical. However, finding the incorrect candidate is worse than finding none at all because it means starting over in a few months. The following are the top seven blunders that human resources professionals make when recruiting and hiring:
- Insufficient Interview Preparation
- Leaving the Phone Interview Out
- Creating Broad Job Postings
- There Are Too Many ‘Cooks’
- Rejecting Candidates That Are Overqualified
- Not utilizing various recruitment avenues
- The Recruitment Process Is Being Hastened
Let us discuss these aforementioned blunders in brief below.
1. Insufficient Interview Preparation
Preparing for an interview is just as crucial for human resources as it is for the candidate. Those conducting the interview should meet ahead of time to discuss the type of candidate they are looking for and the questions they will ask during the interview. Different members of the interview team should be in charge of asking different types of questions and examining different aspects of the candidate.
2. Leaving the Phone Interview Out
Pre-interviews, such as a 10-minute phone conversation, are critical to maximizing your time. The résumé looks fantastic, but it can’t always provide you with important information. They may claim to have a “great command of the English language” for that call centre position, but only a phone interview can confirm this. Only by phone can the need for a bilingual candidate be confirmed.
Some candidates will not submit critical information, such as payment history unless they are contacted; others may no longer be available or interested. While candidates may dislike the phone interview, it is extremely beneficial to recruiters when attempting to maximize the real face-to-face interview time spent on each hire.
3. Creating Broad Job Postings
Another typical blunder made by most recruiters is failing to create focused job advertising that showcases the exact qualities they seek for the job role. This frequently results in hundreds of job applications with inferior matches, which defeats the objective of sourcing.
Sourcing is the process of identifying and compiling a list of the most qualified and well-suited individuals and then encouraging them to apply for the job. As a result, job advertisements must emphasize the precise skills, expertise, and experience required for the job role.
4. There Are Too Many ‘Cooks’
Reduce the number of candidates and interviewers to a bare minimum. When interviewing for a single position, the more applicants you review, the simpler it is to forget who said what and how they presented themselves.
Determine who should be included in the interview process, when you need them, and how to keep track of their feedback.
Whatever the approach, it’s critical to keep the number of interviews moderate. A panel of persons on a first interview, some of whom don’t ask a single question, is not just a waste of resources; it can also intimidate and carry the message that you rule by committee.
5. Rejecting Candidates That Are Overqualified
Rejecting a candidate out of fear that he or she would become bored or quit the organization for a better position is rarely a wise decision.
A more skilled employee will be a valuable asset to the firm and will most likely save money on training costs. It’s vital to remember that this individual has the ability to be promoted to higher-level roles more swiftly. This is especially true when it comes to hiring for a huge corporation.
6. Not Utilizing Various Recruitment Avenues
In this digital age, it is critical to employ the correct recruiting channels to reach out to candidates. Most recruiters source people through single recruitment channels such as job adverts.
In this manner, they miss out on the immense resource of social media, which can assist them in immediately connecting and interacting with active and passive job seekers. Recruiters must determine the best channels to use in order to discover the right candidates for the job.
The first and most important phase in the recruitment process is sourcing.
7. The Recruitment Process Is Being Hastened
You may have difficulty locating the ideal candidate for the job. This does not imply that you will hire anyone without contemplating the consequences.
Consider how much money re-hiring for the same job role would cost you, as well as how much time and resources you will squander teaching him/her. If you speed up the hiring process, you may end up repeating the same steps over and over.
If a critical circumstance develops, interview twice if necessary, or contact an external contractor who will cover for you until you locate the perfect hire.
Takeaway
While most businesses realize the value of delivering practical information to new employees, such as specifics on benefits packages, parking, and other necessities, don’t forget to include a personal touch. Welcome messages from management and coworkers, for example, can make a new hire feel supported.
Instead of focusing solely on orientation and paperwork, other successful onboarding tactics include familiarising the employee with the company’s culture and mission. Peer mentorship can also serve to strengthen staff ties and make new workers feel supported.
