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Hiring Mistakes That Every Company Should Try to Avoid

Posted: 22nd January 2024 09:37
Most business owners and company leaders never set out to make hiring mistakes. They want to hire the right people and benefit from their skills and expertise. In most cases, that’s exactly what happens. Yet, it’s certainly not guaranteed. Many people responsible for hiring and firing in their businesses make some of these common mistakes: 

Not Running Background Checks

Some business owners see background checks from leading providers like Triton Canada as an unnecessary cost. After all, you can just ask a job applicant about their schooling and qualifications and read them on their resumes.

However, background checks can be very telling. You can learn about possible criminal offenses and verify the information they told you. You may avoid hiring a dishonest person who causes problems for your business just by running a simple background check.

Not Checking References

Background checks can provide helpful information about a person’s past, but you don’t get to know everything. There are often no better people to rely on for information about what someone is like as a person and to work with than the references included on a resume.

Of course, most people who have given an applicant permission to be used as a reference will speak about the applicant positively. However, you can ask the right questions to be as well-informed as possible:

Not Scheduling Pre-Interviews

After narrowing down your list of potential new employees based on the contents of their resumes, you might be eager to jump right into hosting official job interviews. Consider doing pre-interviews on the phone to ensure you only schedule interviews with interested and suitable candidates.

Call each job applicant and ask them pre-interview questions to determine their suitability for the next step of the hiring process. These questions can include:

Rushing the Hiring Process

Hiring new employees is typically a multi-step process involving screening applicants, contacting references, holding pre-interviews, and organizing in-person or video interviews. There’s nothing wrong with having an efficient hiring process but refrain from rushing it even if you need to hire someone quickly. Skipping steps and not doing your due diligence might mean that you hire an unsuitable person and need to repeat the process sooner than you hoped. 

Making the Decision By Yourself

If you’re in charge of hiring and onboarding, you may not think you need to involve anyone else in the process. After all, it’s your decision, and you might believe you’ve covered all bases with background checks, pre-interview checks, and even personality tests.

However, there’s always a chance you’ll miss something important. For example, you might be so busy focusing on skills and qualifications that you forget about soft skills like communication and teamwork. Involve other employees, and you may improve your chances of hiring the right employee.

While it can be challenging to avoid all hiring mistakes, awareness might improve your chances. Now that you know about the most common hiring mistakes, you might make your next hiring decision with confidence.