Top 10 mistakes made by recruiters

1. Poor job description
Being clear on what the job requires for superior performance. Job competencies are key for the hiring manager to write the job advert and conduct the interviews. It all starts with the job description!

2. Terrible interviewing
The candidate should do most of the talking! Ensure your managers have been trained to interview, there is structure to the interview and a scoring system in place.

3. Not simulating real job activities
Offer half day working interview. This will give the candidate an opportunity to see if you are the right company for them too.

4. Not pre screening over the telephone
Opportunity to make a decision on whether to progress to first interview. CVs come in all shapes and sizes and there is no rule on how a cv should look.

5. Hiring for skills and not attitude
Remember the movie “The Pursuit of Happiness”? Whilst we recruit on skills, experience and qualifications, attitude is the forgotten ingredient for the perfect candidate mix.

6. Hiring too slow
Looking for the perfect one can mean you lose the ideal candidate. Beware of missing good quality candidates because your desirables have been placed on your essential list.

7. Hiring too fast
Don’t panic buy! Hiring out of desperation to fill a seat isn’t always the best person for the job. Take your time to evaluate what you really need and wait for the right candidate. If they are the wrong fit for the team or ability this can cost more than money in the long run.

8. Inappropriate use of assessments
They are a tool for interviewing not the decision making. There are lots of assessments on the market. It is important that the assessment is used as a tool to challenge the candidate during interview. The person carrying out the interview must understand how it works.

9. Not taking up references
Check the candidate has worked where they say they have. You can do this in the form of reference or if the company have a no reference policy P60’s and payslips.

10. No induction!
Time, money and resources spent on recruiting, why wouldn’t you want to keep them? If there is no formal or poor induction process the candidate is likely to take longer to settle in, pick up bad habits and potentially leave as they don’t really understand the company and what is expected of them.

Laura Hartley
Director
Laura Hartley Recruitment