Key Recruiting Mistakes to Avoid when Hiring Staff

Choosing the wrong candidate for a position can be disastrous, but recruiters often make mistakes when hiring candidates and end up making the wrong decision. Here are some of the most common recruiting mistakes to avoid the next time you are hiring a candidate for an important position in your organisation.

Focusing Too Much on Personality

You clearly want whoever you choose to fit in at the company. However, remember that the most important thing is to find the best candidate for the job, and that means someone who has all of the necessary skills, qualities and experience. It is good to like the people who you hire, but if they are not the most suitable candidates then you must not allow the fact that they have a good personality to get in the way of your decision.

Failing to Check References

References are a key part of the screening process, and you should always go to the trouble to check at least one of the references if they have been provided. References can help to provide you with an honest account of the candidate’s skills and abilities, but remember not to rely upon them too much as they should only be used as a part of the decision-making process.

Failing to Screen Candidates

Make sure you screen candidates thoroughly before you offer them a job or, even better, before you invite them to an interview. By calling up all of the potential candidates for a quick chat you can find out whether there is anything that would prevent you from hiring them early on. They may have unreasonable salary expectations, for example, or they may simply not be right for the position. By screening all the potential candidates carefully early on you can avoid wasting time for both you and the candidates by inviting them to an interview.

Failing to Prepare the Right Questions

When you are hiring staff and you invite the candidates to an interview, make sure that you ask them the right questions. Asking the wrong questions can leave you with answers that do not provide you with enough information about who the candidate is and whether they have the right skills to offer your organisation.

Successful interviews rely upon careful preparation, so meet up with any other interviewers in advance and come up with a list of questions to ask. You may each assess different aspects of the candidates in a series of interviews, and if so decide upon what these aspects will be before you invite the candidates. The right questions can really help you to pinpoint who is the ideal person for the job, so it is worth spending a lot of time choosing your questions.

Never Settle for the Wrong Candidate

It is always preferable to start over again than to choose the wrong candidate, which could be disastrous for your firm. Make sure you avoid these common recruiting mistakes, but be strict. If you cannot find the right person the first time around, start the process again until you do. It may take a lot of time and effort, but in the end it will be worth it.

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This guest post is from SB, Who provides software solutions to help companies better manage their employees. You can find out more about HR solutions from CIPHR.com by visiting its website.