Finding the right employee for your business is crucial to its success. Hiring the wrong person can be time-consuming, and costly, and affect your company’s productivity and morale. It’s critical for organizations to avoid common mistakes when recruiting and hiring new employees. In this article, we’ll look at five of the most common mistakes to avoid when hiring new employees.

Unclear Job Descriptions

One of the biggest mistakes companies make is not having a clear job description. A job description outlines the roles and responsibilities of the position and helps applicants understand what’s expected of them. The average corporate position receives 250 applications, with 75% being from unqualified candidates. Without a clear job description, you will receive more resumes from unqualified candidates, wasting your time and resources. Additionally, having a clear job description can help you avoid legal issues that might arise from ambiguous job requirements.

For a full breakdown on writing a job description, you can check out our article “Writing the Best Job Descriptions”

Relying Too Much on the Interview Process

The interview process is a crucial step in hiring a new employee. However, relying too much on the interview process can lead to costly mistakes. Interviews can be subjective, and hiring managers might overlook critical flaws in a candidate’s background. Instead, consider implementing other hiring strategies like skill assessments, personality tests, and standardized questions to ensure that you’re making an informed decision.

You can check out our article about great interview questions here.

Neglecting Reference Checks

Reference checks are crucial in the hiring process. They can help you verify a candidate’s identity, education, work history, working style, and more, ensuring that you’re hiring someone who is qualified for the position. Typically, reference checks are performed as part of a contingent offer agreement. Reference checks provide a good opportunity to speak with past managers and employers who know what the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses are. Your recruiting partner should provide you with references that they receive from the candidate. At EPG, we are also happy to complete reference checks on behalf of our clients.

Ignoring Soft Skills

While technical skills are essential, soft skills are just as crucial in the hiring process. Soft skills can make a significant difference in an employee’s success and potential future with a company long term. Hiring someone with excellent technical skills but poor soft skills can affect team dynamics and productivity. Therefore, it’s essential to evaluate a candidate’s soft skills during the hiring process. Soft skills to look for include:

• Communication
• Critical Thinking
• Problem-Solving
• Organization
• Time Management
• Collaboration/Teamwork
• Resourcefulness
• Independence
• Empathy/Understanding
• Leadership
• Patience

It can be highly beneficial to deliberately look at a candidate’s culture fit. Ask yourself, “How would this person mesh with our existing team and processes?”

Drawing Out the Hiring Process

Lastly, drawing out the hiring process is a common mistake that many companies make. This delay can occur due to various reasons, such as an overwhelming number of candidates, an overly complex selection process, or a lack of clear communication and decision-making. The primary drawback of prolonging the hiring process is the potential loss of top-tier candidates. In today’s competitive job market, skilled professionals are in high demand, and they are likely to have multiple offers on the table. When the hiring process is unnecessarily prolonged, candidates may become disengaged, lose interest, or accept other job offers. In fact, 62% of people said they would lose interest in a job if it took longer than 10 business days to receive a response after an interview. Moreover, a lengthy hiring process can also create a negative impression of the organization, signaling a lack of efficiency or disorganization.

You can read more about the importance of speed in hiring here.

Conclusion

In conclusion, hiring new employees can be a challenging and time-consuming process, but with the right processes in place, you can increase your chances of hiring the perfect fit.