Hiring a new employee can feel like you’re taking a risk, and it is understandable to have a bit of anxiety around hiring. As anyone who has made a bad hire can tell you, it isn’t a pleasant experience to go through, and you’ll want to do everything you can to minimize the risk of hiring the wrong person. The more you can learn about candidates in advance of hiring, the more informed your decision will be. Create a plan for your approach to vetting candidates and identify who the candidates should interview with, what questions you want to ask and what other data points (like employment assessments) you will want to inform your decision. While interviews are subjective, they can provide you with a lot of useful information about candidates. As you’re preparing for the next time you interview a candidate, you will want to be mindful of these red flags.
Didn’t do their homework
Candidates not doing their homework and coming to an interview unprepared shows a lack of interest in the role and poor motivation. Candidates should have a basic understanding of the company and why they think it might be a good fit. If you ask a candidate what makes them interested in your company, they should have an answer prepared for that question. Additionally, they should come prepared with questions that they have for you about the company or the role. They should be ready to ask you about the company, the role and what the expectations will be.
Being late to the interview
Being late is forgivable in some instances, we all know that life happens. However, if a candidate doesn’t let you know if they’re running more than 5 minutes late, there usually isn’t a good excuse for that other than poor communication and time management. Being late indicates that your position may not be a priority for them and this behavior is likely to repeat if they’re hired.
Unwilling to take employment tests
If you’re asking a candidate to spend hours in pre-employment testing, they may not have that much time to give an interviewer. However, there are accurate and reliable employment tests that only take around five minutes for a candidate to complete. If something only takes five minutes but a candidate is unwilling to take the test, you might want to ask yourself why they are unwilling to invest five minutes of their time to see if they’re the right fit.
Vague responses
People can be nervous or introverted during interviews, but they still should be able to answer questions directly about their work history or experience. If they have done the work they should be able to answer questions and provide details or be honest about not being involved in certain parts of a project. If a candidate dodges questions or doesn’t directly answer them, consider it a flag that they may have lied about or embellished their capabilities on their resume.
So while interviews might be subjective and it isn’t easy to tell if a candidate is a perfect fit after a few conversations, there are things that you can look for in an interview that might help you know which candidates to avoid. If you’re looking for a more data-driven approach to hiring, check out why employment assessments might give you the information that you’re looking for to make the right hire.
Why Your Organization’s Hiring Approach Should Focus on Candidate’s Skills
Is your company ignoring a huge pool of available candidates when sourcing your open roles? Your organization might be missing out on hiring the right person for the role by not taking a “skills-first” approach to hiring. The term ‘skills first’ means that your hiring...
