As recruiters, it’s our job to share trends, information and tips to help our clients find the right talent – quickly. In our work, we see hiring managers making common mistakes that cost them the best candidates. Read on to learn what to avoid when looking for top talent.
Too much technical testing.
In the tech arena, we see hiring managers requiring lengthy technical tests for many of their candidates – this is a huge miss. The best candidates have options that don’t require formal assessments; when asked to complete a cumbersome test, they simply opt-out of the interview process. The market is hot, and the best candidates are not lasting long (especially not long enough for a take-home assignment).
Demanding comparison candidates.
Managers sometimes want a comparison candidate. If there are concerns with their candidate pool and they haven’t quite found “the one,” that is understandable. However, when we run into managers that are high on a candidate but still want to compare, it can be challenging to come up with an option. While we are searching, the candidate they love will often take another opportunity, leaving them with no one. We always encourage managers to hire if they find the right fit, but we still see this mistake happen.
Having a disorganized hiring process.
Hiring managers may require the candidate to meet with multiple people to get a well-rounded assessment, but when this process is redundant and disorganized, it’s a turn off to the job seeker. When creating your hiring process, communicate with the hiring team in advance of the interviews to discuss the different topics you’ll cover. Be sure to review the details of the job to avoid giving conflicting information and take detailed notes for your post-interview team debriefs. Also, schedule the meetings on the same day and back-to-back so the candidate isn’t left waiting between interviews. Finally, get back quickly to the candidate post-interview! In this market, hiring managers do not have the luxury of time. If you take too long to get back to the candidate, they will likely be off the market.
Being inflexible with hiring criteria.
With the hiring market being as tight as it is, I’ve seen the most successful hiring managers loosen their requirements and strongly consider candidates for their potential. For example, if they have success working on XYZ and have the background and experience you want, but don’t have exact experience on a program, technology, etc., it may be a perfect candidate who just needs some training. Being flexible and seeing the potential in a strong candidate will give hiring managers an edge over their competition.
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