Hiring can be fun for those who know everything about the position and the requirements for the role. However, these 10 common recruitment mistakes can make your hair fall if not controlled in time!
A bad hire can give you many sleepless nights, whereas the right candidate will ditch you if you fail to keep up the promises you made during recruitment. Does your heart skip a beat?
Have a glass of water and relax. We are covering these 10 common recruitment mistakes to avoid so that next time, you can hire the right candidate with minimal effort!
10 Common Recruitment Mistakes to Avoid
1. Creating an Unclear Job Description
Most of the time, hiring managers write an unclear job description that may leave the candidate puzzled or an exaggerated job description with loads of hype and promises regarding the position, promotion, and scope of excelling. However, when the candidate gets to know the reality of the job, they choose to quit the job or simply reject the offer if they sense it in the beginning.
Therefore, be specific about what you should put in your job description. Highlight the roles, responsibilities, scope of growth and learnings (if any), and what skills or qualities you need in a candidate for that particular role.
2. Not Asking Odd Questions
Candidates go through the internet or their peers to know the most asked interview questions and prepare themselves for the same. If you continue asking those predictable questions, i.e., tell me about yourself, or what is your greatest weakness? The candidate will hit back with the same canned, rehearsed answers. Asking such questions will not reveal anything about the candidate. You will not know how that candidate is as an individual or what value they can bring to the organisation and team if they get hired.
To avoid making this mistake, ask some odd questions to reveal who they truly are. For instance, ask questions from their resume. If the candidate has mentioned they can speak French, you can ask questions about how they got to learn the language. Ask them to reply in French. Of course, you can get help from Google or Duolingo! It will help you understand if their resume says exactly what they are or if it is just for making an impression or getting the job.
3. Ghosting Candidates
Never do that, never. If you have shortlisted the candidate or they have successfully passed the nth round of interviews but are waiting for the results, while you know they are already selected for the role. Avoid ghosting them.
Maintain a healthy connection with them by sharing details regarding the next step or the results of the previous rounds to make them feel you are there throughout the hiring process. It is crucial to keep the candidates informed without letting them feel ignored or puzzled if you are actually going to hire them or have already started looking for someone else!
4. Overlooking Soft Skills
Well, most recruiters make this mistake by preferring technical skills over soft skills. Though technical skills are essential, soft skills are equally important. Do you also hire candidates based on their technical skills only while ignoring if they genuinely have the abilities to gel with your team and go along with the work culture or if they have the right attitude to deal with clients and upper bodies?
Already biting your nails? This means we are somewhat right! It’s okay to make mistakes, but it is essential to learn from them and hire candidates with good soft skills, whether it is about excellent communication or the leadership spirit.
5. Hiring Less Qualified Candidates
Hiring managers often reject overqualified candidates, which may be due to the inferiority complex or the fear of getting replaced by them after some point. They end up hiring people less qualified than them. But the question is, what extra value that candidate can add to the company, or what you and other candidates can learn from them? Does that person have something more to offer for that position? If the answer is no, it is a failed hire already.
Hiring a candidate who knows more than you or has more experience than you is not a threat but a plus. They may demand hefty compensation, but it is because they know how to get to the finish line without running out of breath. It will be a win-win for both you and them.
6. Focusing on Cultural Fit Instead of Cultural Add
Now comes the crux of this blog and recruitment strategy. Hiring managers often reject a candidate because that candidate has a different perspective of doing things and achieving milestones. Let’s say the appearance, hairstyle, or way of talking. Here, recruiters lack. They look for candidates ready to bend if there is a curve in the door instead of hiring an expert who can change the design and make the door high enough to pass through without them having to bend.
So, when you are hiring candidates, look for qualities and values that can add to your work culture. Seek for inclusiveness without being biassed. When you hire candidates offering different values and viewpoints, you are opening the doors for more positive outcomes and success stories.
7. Rushing the Recruitment Process
Rushing the recruitment process is a big no for you and the candidates. If you hire candidates hastily, you may miss out on good candidates and hire someone not meant for that role. Also, candidates may feel agitated by this attitude and probably leave the process in between. Or worse, they may resign after some time because you were unclear about the policies, job responsibilities, or salary and promotions.
The reason could be anything, but the consequences are the same – be ready to bear the loss! Hiring another candidate will require additional time, resources, and money. So, instead of playing the hiring and rehiring game, try to focus on managing the pace of the recruitment process. Take your time to evaluate the candidate profiles, educate them about the company and role if needed, check for their soft skills and cultural fits and adds, keep in touch with candidates throughout the process, and let the recruitment be a sound breeze for you and the candidate. Most of the time, how you treat the candidates throughout the hiring process gives them a glimpse of how your organisation works, and if they find any red flag due to your rushing in the recruitment, they may back off.
8. Not Considering Recruiting from Within the Company
It happens very often that hiring managers have the best candidate right in the corner, and they look for them around the globe! Yes, you read that right and possibly understand what we are talking about.
Hiring candidates from within the organisation has many benefits. There is no need for investment in the hiring process because you already know them. They are a good fit for the company and role, and the overall process can be as quick as a blink of an eye!
9. Waiting for the Perfect Candidate
A perfect candidate does not exist. Yes, it is true. Either a candidate overqualified, less qualified, or someone coming in between these two, whom we can call a perfect candidate, but no candidate is perfect. It’s the work style, team, managers, chances of learning and growth, and other factors that shape a candidate for a particular role whom we call a perfect candidate.
So, when hiring, look for a candidate eager to learn and grow, has a positive attitude, is willing to put up the hard work and excess drill when required, and is a team player who can excel as an individual. You can make them perfect by keeping them in a mould known as a positive work culture.
10. Relying Too Much on Preferences
It’s okay to look for preferences when hiring someone. However, relying too much on preferences means that you avoid doing the hard work of searching for candidates, shortlisting them based on the requirements and their abilities, and giving the required time for the recruitment process might cause you a lot in the long term.
Instead, you can create a list of all the preferences and evaluate them, but look for candidates outside the company preference list who can be a good match for the role.
Conclusion: Ditch the Glitches & Hire the Best Fit with the Best Job Portal in India
Hiring the right candidate takes a lot, and retaining them can be a roller coaster ride if you keep making the common recruitment mistakes as the above. So, break the cycle of hiring and rehiring by hiring the right candidate with patience and mindfulness. You can hire the best candidates with Remark, the best job portal in India.