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How to hire the right person for the job

curranrecruit
Nov 26, 2014
3 min read

There is a saying that goes: “right decisions come from experience but experience comes from mistakes” but is there a way to avoid mistakes or at least reduce the chance of making them and still make the right decision?

Hiring mistakes can be extremely costly with the average hiring mistake costing around 15 times a person’s base salary according to Thompson (2012) and that’s just part of the financial implications - there’s also the cost of time, energy and emotional stress with dealing with a bad hire. This week, we want to share some of the most common hiring mistakes and some tips on how manager’s today can avoid them.

Rushing the recruitment process

When a position opens up, your first impulse is to fill it straight away, but most hiring mistakes come from not thoroughly vetting enough candidates. One can avoid this by having realistic timelines (typically at least 6 weeks to attract and sort through enough high-quality candidates).

Making decisions based on gut feelings alone

Getting a good hire is hard work and basing a decision solely on someone who interviews well or “feels like a good fit” can lead to not doing enough research into the candidate’s skills, experience and references. Many entrepreneurs hire people they like, people that look good on paper or are presentable in a suit or dress. Hiring is an analytical process based on facts, not first impressions or gut feelings.

Unreasonably long decision process

Companies lose good candidates when they hesitate on making decisions. Granted, the interview and decision process takes time. But there is no excuse for not having a decision schedule and sticking to it. If you’re unsure, give them a call to know that you aren’t making an offer yet - if you’re afraid of losing the candidate, then why are you hesitating to hire them? You need to bite the bullet, and keep your hiring process moving forward and your candidates engaged.

Not having a clear job role and inadequate job descriptions

Just like when you go out shopping, if you don’t have a list or clear idea of what you want, then you’re going to end buying things you don’t need and forget the important items. Hiring is just the same. If you do not have the fine details of the role, responsibilities and milestones you desire, you're not ready to start recruiting. Many organisations have made the mistake of hiring someone who was incredibly talented and accomplished, but not a good fit because the company itself didn't know specifically what they needed for the role. Clarify why you need to hire somebody and what you are looking for before doing anything else.

Bringing in too many people

Having a small pool of candidates’ means you aren’t going to have a lot of selection - however if you have too many in the pool you might miss details. After more than 20 interviews it can be easy to forget which candidate studied abroad for 2 years and which one left their last job because of a co-worker. According to SHRM, most hiring managers interview 8 candidates. It’s a process, if you aren’t able to find the right fit in the first few interviews then you are able to go back to the drawing board. Re-evaluate what you’re looking for and reconsider resumes that you might not think made the cut before.

Misreading motivation

Motivation to do the job is critical to job success. However, it’s important not to confuse a candidate’s motivation to get the job with motivation to do the job. For example, an outgoing candidate might seem highly motivated during the interview, but once in the position, they might not like the job. You need to ensure that candidate really knows what the job will entail and is still just as enthusiastic about the tasks specific to the role.