The Recruiting Faux Pas You Don’t Want to Make

A recruiter’s approach has a significant impact on their ability to draw in top tier talent. Come off as aggressive and pushy and you’ll find that potential employees are disappearing. However, lay low and you’ll lose the best candidates to other firms. In order to keep bringing in the best that the industry has to offer to your company, it’s important to learn about common recruiting faux pas that you may not even realize you’re making:

• Failure to provide a clear job description: Potential new hires want to know exactly what will be asked of them should they come on board. They don’t want a vague title and general responsibilities; they want to know exactly how their success will be measured. Writing a job description that includes “and everything else that is asked of you” may be off-putting to a talented potential employee. Instead of trying to cover too much ground in your job description, take a few minutes to really hammer out the details about what is expected of the person who fills this role. It’ll make the job more appealing to the right candidate.

• Bringing the entire company in to the interview: There are plenty of horror stories about candidates who went in for an interview and found themselves going through a day-long process. Truthfully, a never-ending interview is a waste of time for everyone involved, especially for those who come in but don’t get the job. Keep the interview process as streamlined as possible. Get to know the candidate well, but don’t drag it out for months on end. They don’t need to meet the accounting department, the receptionist, and every member of the creative team in order to be a good fit.

• Sticking with the status quo: If you’ve quickly gone through several employees in one position, maybe it’s time to reconsider why these individuals aren’t working out. Instead of hiring the same type of candidate you’ve hired in the past, consider going in a new direction. Just because you’ve always hired someone with a particular background, doesn’t necessarily mean this individual is the right fit for the job.

Lastly, many recruiters flub the hiring process by refusing to branch out. If you’re only hiring using a certain method, it’s time to switch it up. Networking events are great, but you’ll also want to check out LinkedIn. Varying up these strategies can help put you in touch with new and talented candidates.

Are there any techniques you use to improve your hiring process? Let us know in the comments!