When recruiting and hiring, there are bound to be mistakes. Knowing what to watch for, and planning carefully, will get you well on the way to hiring great people.

1. © 2015 Next Level Up. All rights reserved.
Common Hiring Mistakes
When recruiting and hiring, there are bound to be mistakes.
Knowing what to watch for, and planning carefully,
will get you well on the way to hiring great people.
Let’s take a look at some of the common hiring mistakes.
Not being clear about what the position entails – including the objectives of the
position. Make sure that when you are in that hiring interview, you set out the
responsibilities, and the standards. It’s very important to mention the standards expected
and set them out clearly, and how the job and the results are going to be measured.
Not being clear about the skills and experience required. Be clear in your own mind
of what the required skills are and the experience.
Not interviewing for the values that the business requires. Before you go into this
meeting, work up a list of your values, and those of your business, and what you want in
your employee. Look at the values you came up with in your strategic intent. Work out
how you can ask questions to find out if those values are there. For example, if teamwork
is an important value, you’re not going to just go in and say, “How are you as a team
player? Or are you a team player?” They’re in an interview. Of course, they’re going to
say they’re terrific and it’s important to them. You come up with a different way of phrasing
it. Something like, “Can you give me an example of a time when you disagreed with a
team member, or a supervisor, and how you handled it and what happened?” The answer

2. © 2015 Next Level Up. All rights reserved.
to that is going to tell you a lot more about that person than if you asked “are you a good
team worker?” So, interview for values and the values that the business requires.
Talking too much in the interview and trying to ‘sell’ the job to the applicant. Work
out your questions beforehand. Prepare open ended questions that are going to color in
the picture, if you like. Let them sell themselves to you, not the other way around. You
may be desperate to get someone, but let them sell themselves to you. Ask them what
difference they would make if they came to your business.
Not setting evaluation criteria so that all applicants are seen on a level playing
field. Work out the things that you’re going to measure in order to assess the best
applicant.
Not checking references or having a clear set of questions to ask referees. Always
do a reference check with a prepared set of questions. Even if it is your neighbor’s niece
or nephew. “Oh, I didn’t feel I could because it’s my cousin, or it’s my best friend’s niece,
or…” It doesn’t matter. Do a reference check. It will pay off in the long run.
Ignoring the red flags. Notice any signs that tug at your intuition and dig further, and
bring them up in your reference check.
Not running any tests (if it’s important to your business). I knew a landscaper once
who said he was looking for apprentices and he said, “There needs to be a common
sense test.” Because common sense is important and he needed it in his business. We
devised a common sense test which was fantastic and it worked really well.
So, those are hiring mistakes. Look for them. We’ve all made them. Notice the ones you
have made, notice how you made them and look to see how you’re going to address
them, and how you’re going to do it differently in the future.