Let’s say there’s a vacant position you need to fill in a hurry. So, you hastily put together a job description that roughly covers the job duties, figuring you’ll find the right candidate once you sift through all the resumes. But now you’re stuck with multiple candidates who don’t quite fit the bill, and you have to choose the best one from among the not-quite-rights.
Every company wants to hit it out of the park with hiring, but sometimes they feel a need to simply fill the spot. So, what happens when you don’t take care with your hiring? You make mistakes that have a ripple effect to other employees and parts of the company. Avoid them whenever possible.
- You neglect to ask, flat-out, why they want to work there/why the company appeals to them and why it would be a good step for them. Amazingly often, candidates don’t offer this information on their own. And if they don’t, you need to ask. Even the most qualified candidate, in terms of skill set and experience, needs to fit with the company and see where they would fit in. The candidate who either has a canned answer or no answer should not get hired, no matter how good they look on paper.
- You rush the hiring process. You may feel pressure to fill a position, but rushing it will often lead to poor vetting. When you don’t find out everything about your top candidates, you end up missing potential red flags, such as less-than-glowing references, poor cultural fit or a skill gap that ends up hurting the department later. When vetting candidates, you should never cut corners, but should always act with urgency in order to not lose candidates to other offers.
- You put out an incomplete or inaccurate job description. As stated above, if you don’t know what you want, you won’t want what you get. Before putting out a job description, you need to know exactly what you need the person to do and make that clear in the posting. You want the best overall fit in terms of experience, skills, and temperament, as well as what you need that person to do for the company, so make sure you carefully figure that out before posting.
Take the time before hiring to carefully go through the process, bearing in mind that doing so will yield the best results. Better yet, take the pressure off yourself and work with the recruiting professionals at PrideStaff Thousand Oaks and Ventura County to find the best candidates for your needs.
