Identifying Common Candidate Prospecting Mistakes and their Consequences
When companies have staffing needs, perhaps due to expansion, departure, or employee retirement, there is usually an urgency to fill those positions; this self-imposed pressure is fueled by a practical element, since prolonged vacancies can have an adverse effect on employee morale, productivity levels, customer service relationships, revenues streams, and more based upon the responsibilities assigned to those specific roles.
Unfortunately, this degree of resolve can often affect the recruiting and hiring processes. While the need to find replacement candidates as quickly as possible is understandable, rushing to do this can also lead to prospecting mistakes and shortcuts and the possibility of what are often known as bad hires; and the costs tied to the latter can be substantial.
Whenever the hiring process goes awry, these mistakes could cost companies up to five times the annual salaries committed to the employees, including expenses incurred by a need to repeat their candidate prospecting. Then, rather than compelling companies to take a step back and re-evaluating the specific circumstances, initial hiring mistakes can further any urgency to fill the jobs, creating the possibility that the overall situation may actually worsen.
Consequently, organizations need to balance the urgency to satisfy staffing needs with a willingness to invest the time and effort to find the right candidate for each job; this may mean having to find ways to compensate for the vacancies while the prospecting process takes a little longer than desired, but it will ultimately reduce mistakes and lead to better hiring decisions in the long run.
To that end, the consultants at Winters Technical Staffing, a leading recruiting agency in Toronto for over 45 years, present the following list of 15 common candidate prospecting mistakes and hiring process mistakes frequently made by companies, offered here with the intention to help avert such potentially costly actions or omissions moving forward:
- Creating job postings/descriptions that are vague or overly verbose
- Neglecting to use language and terms that resonate with candidates
- Failure to adequately screen the list of candidates to only a select few
- Making decisions on a subjective basis rather than neutrality and merit
- Allowing physical appearance and stature to influence candidate selection
- Hiring on the basis of favouritism (nepotism) or bias instead of impartiality
- Addressing immediate needs without taking future potential into consideration
- Focusing solely on external candidates before reviewing any/all internal options
- Deciding on a candidate based on impressions formed in/after a single interview
- Not establishing clearly-defined objectives for each member of an interview panel
- Asking questions that are theoretical or clichéd in nature vs focusing on behaviour
- Neglecting to follow-up with top candidates, or reacting too slowly, after interviews
- Over-interviewing – candidates are asked to return too often or see too many people
- Overlooking prospecting opportunities (e.g. social media, online groups, conferences)
- Failure to perform thorough reference and background checks before making an offer
While the above list is indeed comprehensive, it is important to note that such actions or omission can stand alone as the causes of any candidate prospecting and hiring process mistakes; thus, any employers who feel that they may need to address and/or eliminate one or more of these ineffective, unhealthy components from their candidate prospecting and hiring processes would be well-advised to consult with the experienced professionals at Winters Technical Staffing.
Professional Recruiters Help Avert the Consequences of Hiring Process Mistakes
As a leading Toronto recruitment agency for more than four decades, Winters Technical Staffing has the requisite experience and resources to assist employers with the effective implementation of their candidate prospecting and hiring processes from start to finish; their expertise can be invaluable in identifying top-calibre candidates for interviews and making confident hiring decisions, thereby avoiding the types of costly mistakes that can adversely affect a company for months, if not years.
The services provided by the recruiting experts from Winters Technical Staffing include:
- Preparation of job postings
- Advertising through social media
- Screening of resume and candidates
- Coordination of any candidate interviews
- Development of specific interview questions
- Comprehensive reference/background checks
For additional information on the range of recruiting support and services offered by the specialists at Winters Technical Staffing, visit our services.
Contact Winters Today
Avoid the costly consequences of subjective and/or ineffective candidate prospecting and hiring process mistakes by capitalizing on the services of a proven professional recruiting agency. Call the experts from Winters Technical Staffing at 416-495-7422 today or contact us to book a no-obligation consultation on how we can best support your needs.
