Interviewing candidates for a current opening on your team isn’t always the most fun thing to do. Interviews take time out of your busy schedule, require preparation to maximize your effort during the discussion and finally, interviews can be a string of stressful and exhausting exchanges with people you don’t really know and may never see again! This is especially true if the human resources team isn’t sending you the right candidates in the first place. If you find yourself in this position, save yourself plenty of grief and time by making sure your HR professional recruiter avoids these 5 common hiring mistakes.
Improper Soft Skills Evaluation
Understanding a candidate’s work history and experiences is usually easier than evaluating softer attributes such as cultural fit or leadership qualities. Mistakes are often made in the presentation of candidates if your HR recruiter doesn’t have a solid idea of the culture and core values of the company. It is extremely important that HR is skilled in vetting candidates for fit and other soft skills prior to introducing a given candidate to the hiring executive. This is especially true at the executive level. It’s likely that executive-level job candidates will know how to talk the talk, so it’s up to your recruiters to make sure they will walk the walk if hired. How? By ensuring the candidate is evaluated in the most comprehensive manner.
HR Can Lack Focus
Silence is golden. Let the candidate do the talking! During the interview process, many recruiters will give away the answer to the question they’re asking without realizing. Your recruiters need to ask tough questions that reveal the candidate’s true self, as well as their core values. Then, sit back and simply listen! It will become apparent if his or her values align with the company’s core values. Next, can they clearly articulate why they are the right candidate for the position. It’s ok to make it difficult to earn the job offer. Be hard in the interview process; hire only the best by ensuring that they can communicate and describe their professional credentials.
The Legal Trap
In case you did not know, there are a growing number of job-related lawsuits each year related to hiring practices. Questions about age, gender, sexual orientation and/or prior medical issues can result in your company receiving an unwanted lawsuit. It is extremely important that your HR representative has a strong understanding of dos and don’ts related to employment law. If your HR representative is not careful in their phrasing or communication of job-related interactions and hiring decisions, your organization might incur legal expenses.
Understand and Clearly Communicate the Job Specs
Recruiters sometimes lack a firm understanding of the hiring position. It is important that they understand and create a detailed (yet concise) job description. This is the most important tool necessary for hiring a qualified and talented candidate. HR must communicate and ask questions when new positions come available. Often times, recruiters do not ask the tough questions or get into the details in such a manner which results in properly vetting a job applicant.
Compare And Despair
Executive recruiting can be a serious challenge. The natural instinct of most hiring managers is to seek out potential hires who exhibit similarities to established high performers. This practice is not completely wrong; yet, it is extremely important for your HR team member to be diligent about following up with professional references. Many internal recruiters base hiring decisions on erroneous comparisons to current employees. Comparisons can be made between the traits of current high performers and the potential new hire. Rarely (if ever) do the actual skill sets or performance potential match what was discovered or imagined during the interview process. Be sure to follow-up and confirm of skills and abilities from references before they sign the offer and other required paperwork.
Good luck and happy hiring during the coming weeks and months! If you want to expand your executive search beyond the HR department, contact us today and see how we can assist with your leadership needs.
