02 Mar 5 Mistakes You’re Probably Making When Recruiting
The process of recruiting candidates for hiring positions can be stressful, as it requires a lot of time and effort to find the best talent out there. As you’re sourcing new employees for your business, be sure to avoid many common mistakes that most recruiters make at every point in their career. You could be missing out on great potential hires, and even worse, they could end up bad-mouthing you behind your back.
Here are five mistakes you’re probably making when recruiting.
1. Not Having an Idea of What Makes Someone a Good Fit for Your Organization
Let’s say you’ve just started working with a team of engineers, and they have created some amazing products for your company. However, they all work remotely and haven’t met face-to-face yet. How do you know if they’re going to be successful? It is easy to put together a job description and apply it to hundreds of companies looking for remote full-time programmers or software developers. But this approach won’t guarantee success.
You need to ask yourself: “What qualities should I be looking for in my next employee?” The short answer is: “someone who cares about code quality.” There will always be room for improvement, but your team will not create something worthy of being called high-quality code without this characteristic.
2. Focusing Too Much on the Wrong Candidate
If you focus too much on the wrong candidates, you’ll miss critical information that may end up being important in the future. People often ignore certain details while applying for jobs because they think it makes them look more appealing.
For example, a candidate might use “innovative” or “creative” words since these traits sound cool. But what the person means by those terms is they’re very likely self-promoting. These keywords aren’t necessarily positive for hiring managers at big tech companies where innovation and creativity may require cutting corners. And why would you want a creative thinker who cuts corners anyway? You wouldn’t hire a salesperson who spends their day surfing the web and posting funny videos online.
3. Thinking That Everyone Has the Same Skillset
It’s very important to understand where people come from when assessing their skill set. Some applicants may believe they have an extensive range of knowledge, while others may underestimate themselves. This gap usually occurs because they don’t know how to break down their experiences into terms other people recognize.
For example, if applicants apply for Dallas Fort Worth administrative support positions and state they’ve worked internationally, they might not realize that certain languages require specific skill sets. These skills aren’t necessarily obvious, nor are they universal across industries. Therefore, don’t assume that everyone has the same level of expertise.
4. Only Searching Locally
When recruiting, it’s critical to look beyond local boundaries. If you limit your search to only within your state or country, then you’re severely limiting the number of qualified candidates available to you. You could miss out on great opportunities by failing to look at international websites like Glassdoor, Indeed, or Facebook.
Although these sites give you a snapshot of current job openings, they often include interviews posted online by former employers who may have had great relationships with previous employees. Alternatively, you’ll see applications from current employees looking to move on with their careers or businesses.
5. Hiring Based Solely on Qualifications
There are many great things about using formal qualifications to measure candidates’ abilities and match them to jobs. Some companies hire based on other non-technical factors such as personality traits or soft skills. They find these characteristics invaluable in helping them determine which candidate will make the best fit for the given role.
So, when evaluating candidates, try to incorporate both quantitative and qualitative information. If possible, try to evaluate candidates outside of the workplace; this includes conducting Google searches or checking social media (e.g., LinkedIn).
It is important to avoid making these mistakes to ensure you’re hiring top talent that fits well into your team. For instance, if you accidentally overlook someone who was highly skilled but couldn’t communicate effectively, this can be extremely problematic.
Hopefully, this list helped you understand what not to do when recruiting. Lastly, never forget – every interview is an opportunity to learn something new and develop yourself. As you begin interviewing, keep in mind that learning is crucial for growth and development.
About The Author
Taylor Haskings is a freelance writer born in Denver, Colorado. She graduated with a bachelor’s in English from the University of Colorado, Denver. She enjoys hiking in the Colorado Rockies and loves the fine arts, such as playing the violin. Her true strengths include networking with others and expressing herself through the written word.
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