11 Mistakes That Could Be Hurting Your Company’s Credibility During the Hiring Process
Welcome to Recruiter Q&A, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers!
Today’s Question: What’s one mistake companies might be making in their hiring efforts that could actually be hurting their credibility? How can they fix this issue?
These answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization composed of the world’s most successful young entrepreneurs. YEC members represent nearly every industry, generate billions of dollars in revenue each year, and have created tens of thousands of jobs.
1. Hiring Without Accounting for Core Company Values
One mistake companies might be making in their hiring efforts that could actually be making them lose credibility is hiring without taking into account their core company values. You can fix this issue by starting to look for these values or characteristics in the hiring process or by revising the company values altogether and making the necessary adjustments. — Alfredo Atanacio, Uassist.ME
2. Failing to Include the Salary Range in the Job Post
This is a change we made within the last year at the direction of our Director of HR, and I am so glad we did. I have since learned more about how big of an issue this is for ensuring that women and people of color are paid equitably. If you don’t include the salary, it can feel to candidates like you’re trying to trick them in some way. — Kelsey Raymond, Influence & Co.
3. Keeping Candidates Waiting for a Decision
It creates a poor impression when you keep candidates waiting for a final answer. If you have too many applicants and can’t reply to them all, then mention this in your job advertisement. Do your best to be timely and let people know when they haven’t been accepted. Even with people who don’t make it, communicating well is important, especially since people can leave reviews online about your interviewing process— Blair Williams, MemberPress
4. Loading Your Job Listing with Cliches
You don’t need “rock stars, ninjas, and gurus.” You need solid, reliable, loyal human beings who are going to get the job done beautifully. Don’t just copy and paste boilerplate job descriptions from online. Talk about who you are and who your team is in real, down-to-earth terms that people can relate to. — Tyler Bray, TK Trailer Parts
5. Making the Interview Process Difficult to Get Through
Many businesses think they’re identifying the right people by making the interview process grueling for candidates. This is a terrible idea because employees judge companies during the interview process as much as businesses assess people. Good employees won’t work in companies that treat them badly. So, avoid making interviews difficult and hypercritical for candidates. — Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
6. Posting Confusing Job Descriptions
Companies lose credibility when they post job listings with incomplete or confusing descriptions. Your job description determines who finds your posting and what kind of candidates you’ll attract. You want suitable candidates, so you need to create optimized, thorough job listings. They should include information like expectations about the role, salary, required skills, and more. — Jared Atchison, WPForms
7. Failing to Communicate in a Timely Manner
You may lose credibility if you don’t consistently keep in touch with applicants you’d like to hire. We’ve all put in an application at a company only to get a call back two months later. Many people see this as unprofessional and will refuse to participate because you took too long to greet them and ask if they’re interested in the role. — John Turner, SeedProd LLC
8. Appearing to Always Be Hiring
We’ve all seen the company jobs page with several opportunities posted that somehow never get filled. It’s a clever trick to give the illusion of always being in growth mode (and always hiring). But then when the company really does need to hire, suddenly it’s hard to find anyone! You reap what you sow. — David Boehl, TravelSite.io
9. Filling Open Positions with Friends and Family
When hiring, it can be tempting to fill open positions with friends and family members who are convenient to access and easy to hire. Hiring from your circles can be great, but it can also create a feedback loop that offers no diversity in background or thought. Always provide others with the opportunity to submit for your job—you’ll be surprised by the talent that is out there.— Ashley Sharp, Dwell with Dignity
10. Presenting the Wrong Image
So much emphasis is placed on the process itself that the most basic and important element is often overlooked: presentation. It really is two-fold, presentation and body language. People pay attention to so much during those first initial moments of meeting and talking to someone. Taking yourself seriously in how you dress and present yourself says so much about the company and its culture. — Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker
11. Moving Too Slowly
Many companies move too slowly in their processes. If you move fast with a candidate, it conveys confidence in that person and in their ability to do the job. If you move too slowly, it could cause them to look elsewhere. Moving too slowly in hiring not only makes things less efficient, but it can also damage your credibility. Keep things moving fast and make sure you’re communicating all the time.— Cody Candee, Bounce
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