Do You Make These 7 Common Recruiting Mistakes?

All too often when companies are seeking new employees or even a single new hire, decision makers can be swept away by their sense of urgency and find themselves making the following common mistakes. Sometimes, it’s not even being in a rush—perhaps your hiring process simply leaves something to be desired.

Many companies are successfully using leading HR software tools to streamline the entire employee lifecycle.

Additionally, top applicant tracking software can also help reduce errors and eliminate common recruiting errors with centralized and automated tools for sourcing candidates.

These seven common missteps can throw a serious wrench in successful team building. Here’s how to avoid them.

The threat of the overqualified candidate has, perhaps, been overstated. Of course, there are risks associated with hiring someone whose resume outshines the requirements for the position currently on offer. Or sometimes hiring managers may even not want to consider candidates that may seem more qualified than themselves, 

However, instead of immediately dismissing candidates who are overqualified, think about how the new employee might fit in the bigger picture. If the position in question has room to evolve, or if you promote from within, snapping that candidate up might be a great move. And also, hiring someone that is more seasoned in the field can be quicker to train and may need less supervision than a less qualified candidate. Experience can bring a wealth of knowledge to the table so it would be wise to consider a person with an impeccable resume without passing over. 

Having a great team collaborate on the hiring process is one thing, but having the final decision made by consensus can have its pitfalls. Hiring the most popular candidate might result in overlooking more qualified candidates. 

There’s also the risk of having to compromise to the point where no one is particularly pleased with the choice—leading to lukewarm hiring decisions that don’t represent the best your recruiter has to offer. While it is important to take into consideration how employees will get along, it can be an exciting change to bring in a new perspective. 

Given the completely transformed workplace dynamics in recent years between employers and employees, employees tend to be more aware of what they can contribute to your company and how much compensation they deserve.  

This means they expect compensation that is fair and also more lucrative than other opportunities available on the employment market. Potential recruits frequently tend to go with the best offer they receive and hence, it is important to be mindful of the current job market salary expectations. 

If you set the bar too low in terms of compensation, the best candidates are likely to skip sending in a resume at all. You’re doing yourself a serious disservice by unfairly lowballing to cut costs (and you may end up spending more in the long run, with less competent candidates). Compensating talent fairly and presenting a tantalizing salary can open up a candidate pool that can level up the way you do business. 

There’s a fine line to be walked in terms of determining what qualifications are required for a new hire. Education and experience in a respective field don’t necessarily equate to skill. The best candidate may not be one that has every software certification that you’d like the new hire to have, but on-the-job training and continued education can transform a seemingly underqualified candidate into the pick of the pack.

When you write your ads, consider what is necessary for day one, and be prepared to be flexible when it comes to those qualifications that could be developed on the job by the right candidate.

There’s a great deal to be said for hiring candidates that click with your company culture. But there’s also something to be said for bringing in fresh perspectives and new ideas. While you want candidates that are compatible with your organizational culture, you don’t want your teams to be echo chambers, either. This creates a conformity bias within the workplace, and you can miss out on the benefits of having a more diverse group of people working together. 

Don’t immediately dismiss a potential new hire simply because they have a different approach than what you’ve grown accustomed to. Fitting in with the company culture is crucial to workplace harmony but bringing in new perspectives that may be different from what you are already used to can inject new life into the company.

Getting the best candidates for the job interesting means getting the news of your opening to them to begin with. Using the right tools to make sure that your new positions are being effectively marketed is critical.

Our Applicant Tracking Buyer's Guide is a great place to start comparing products from the top vendors in this burgeoning field, to find the tool that not only helps you properly distribute and market your openings, but also helps you sort, track, and communicate with potential candidates in an efficient, effective manner.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and first impression bias is a well-known phenomenon that affects many different aspects of everyday life. Recruiters and hiring teams are no less susceptible to this particular bias.

Look beyond your immediate reaction to a candidate—because, after all, their immediate reaction to you might be coloring their presentation as well. Looking at the facts and delving deeper into a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses and giving them the opportunity to put their best foot forward is very important.

The importance of perfecting your hiring process can’t be overstated. It is important to be aware of the current talent market and what candidates expect along with your own requirements to be fulfilled.

Meeting employee expectations and presenting a fair compensation package will open up a more diverse pool of candidates. With the right tools and a conscious decision to minimize mistakes, you’ll be able to continually improve your prospects and results.