Hiring a new employee is a crucial and difficult decision to make. Bad hires can lead to unwanted costs, high turnover, a decrease in team morale and productivity, and a loss in profits. Therefore, you will want to identify bad hires before you commit to one candidate.
While grammatical and formatting errors in someone’s C.V and cover letter can be a great initial identifier of how suitable they are for your company, the interview is a better way to gauge if someone fulfills all the requirements you are looking for.
Here are three ways you to help you identify and eliminate the bad seeds during the interview process:
- Only Focused on Themselves
While the candidate is there to sell themselves during the interview, make sure to pay attention to the way they answer your questions about team projects. If they focus only on their contribution and only use “I/me” while giving their answer, then perhaps they are too self-centered and not team players. Pay attention to whether they throw their previous teammates “under the bus” or if they speak negatively about their former employers. If they do this, it is another sign of a negative attitude. But it is also a sign of someone who a) has a habit of blaming others for their mistakes and b) doesn’t take responsibility for their actions.
A great candidate will answer the question with a focus on “we/us” and will include and credit their team members for a job well done within their response. By sharing the credit for their accomplishments, they show that they have a team mentality, which means that this is someone who will fit great in your team!
- Mix It Up by Asking Tough Questions
If you are asking the same cliché questions, then you should expect the same generic answers that don’t allow the candidate to show their personality to you. The result is that you make a hiring decision based on inadequate information that comes from generic pre-prepared answers that the interviewee has gotten comfortable delivering.
By getting innovative and breaking away from the standard interview questions, you get more genuine answers from the interviewees. Some tougher questions you can ask are:
- What are five things you liked about your previous company? This question is excellent for revealing potential toxicity in the candidate’s personality. Does the answer provide any meaningful insight into the candidate’s experience, or is it a superficial one like free coffee?
- What are your future career plans? With this question, you will see if they plan to stay with your company long term or if they are biding their time until a better opportunity comes along.
- What skills are you missing? This answer will reveal those candidates that are “know-it-alls.” To answer the question, they will give you a superficial response while the right candidate will talk about a skill they are currently working on or would like to learn to develop their professional growth further.
- They are The Perfect Candidate
If a candidate seems too good to be true, be wary because it can be challenging to determine if they are, the way they market themselves or if they are embellishing the truth to seem more impressive.
Of course, the candidate will try to prove that their qualifications and expertise are exactly what the position calls for; however, it is unlikely that an applicant has the exact credentials and years of experience that you are asking for.
Take a moment and really evaluate this type of candidate. They may be telling the truth about their qualifications and experience, but this is not necessarily a good thing.
How so?
If the role is not challenging enough for them, they might quickly get bored and demotivated. Which, may lead them to have “one eye on the door,” meaning that they will instantly jump ship once a more challenging opportunity comes along. In this case, it’s best to use your judgment to assess whether this kind of candidate is right for the position or if someone with less experience who can grow within the role might be a better fit.
We also recommend involving other managers in the interview process. They will provide you with another viewpoint, and they might catch something that you have missed. At GRS all new potential hires are interviewed by at least four different Managers before they are considered for employment.
As a full-service recruitment agency with 15 years’ experience, we can match and pre-screen applicants to help narrow down the list to the most qualified for the role. By working with us, you get an additional point of view from experienced professionals, and you can feel confident that you selected the best candidate for the job. If you want to learn more about how GRS Group can assist you in filling your company’s vacancies, give us a call to speak with one of our consultants.
