Hiring is more art than science. People are complicated (and so are most jobs for that matter). No one has a 100 percent hiring success rate.
However, the goal is to learn from your mistakes. When things go wrong, look back at the hiring process and find places where the process broke down. However, there are a lot of errors that can be avoided from the start.
Here are four common hiring mistakes and how to avoid them:
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Using Your Personal Life as Your Hiring Pool
Everyone knows it’s dangerous to mix business with personal relationships. Hiring your best friend, your brother-in-law, your college roommate – these are decisions fraught with potential headaches down the line.
It might seem obvious, but people still do it all the time. If you are considering hiring someone close to you, make sure to run a full job search first, without telling your loved one they are in contention. If it’s a good idea, it will still be a good idea after you see all the other options.
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Hiring Your New Best Friend
We just covered how to deal with the temptation to hire your oldest friend. But what about your new best friend. I mean the person you just met – the one who came in for an interview and you now think is the most interesting human who’s ever lived.
Don’t overreact to a perceived connection in an interview. Just because someone went to the same college as you, likes the same TV shows, or has the same sense of humor as you are not sufficient reasons to hire someone.
If you feel yourself getting bowled over by a personality, bring them in again later and let someone new sit in on the interview. Getting a second opinion will let you know if what your responding to has more universal appeal.
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Don’t Become a Die-Hard Resume Fan
This is something of the opposite problem. Instead of getting infatuated with a personality, you get infatuated with a resume.
Don’t let an impressive resume blind you to red flags that come up in an interview. You hire more than a list of qualifications. You hire the whole person. So make sure you judge the whole person before making a decision.
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Don’t Marry Your New Hire
No, this isn’t about intra-office dating. This is about the time just after you bring in a new hire.
In the final analysis, hiring takes place with very little information. A resume, maybe a couple of interviews, a series of generic reference checks. It’s not a lot to go on.
You’ll learn more about your new employee in the first day on the job than you can in a dozen interviews. Work habits, level of competence and the ability to fit into your company’s culture will become apparent very quickly.
So, don’t be afraid to admit a mistake. If you hired the wrong person, let them go as soon as you know it won’t work out.
Need Help Hiring?
Of course, getting professional help is also a good way to avoid getting into that situation. Using a staffing agency cuts down on the chance these types of issues will occur. Contact Qualified Staffing to find out how they can help you improve your hiring process.