Content
If you want to avoid committing common hiring mistakes, you should pose the following questions to yourself and your panel of interviewers before proceeding.
Do we know what we want?
Many interview panels start with very vague characteristics, qualities and qualifications. The end result is that they end up being impressed or unimpressed with each and every person who attends the interview. Remember, the time that you spend interviewing people is valuable.
Those who are attending interviews may not have anything better to do but you certainly have a business to run. If you spend an entire day interviewing people and end up hiring none, you have just wasted one day’s worth efforts. Had you put this efforts into your business, you might have earned more profits.
Hence, not ignore the opportunity cost of failed interviews. To reject everybody because they are not good enough is one thing. However, to reject people because you have no idea what you want does not make sense.
Do we know what qualities to avoid
Too many persons look for positive traits and qualities and end up being very generous in assessment of potential employees. However, you should use the interview to find out not just positive but negative traits as well. Of course, you are not making any personal judgment.
Rather, you are just assessing the individual just as you would assess any other commodity. Employees will become a part of your human capital. Just as you assess the potential rate of return of each and every investment option before proceeding, you should assess potential rate of return that your human capital offers before proceeding.
Are we taking ourselves too seriously?
Top organizations in any field never adopt a position of arrogance. They never adopt a take it or leave it approach. Insulting people never works. You may have jobs to give out and people applying for the job may be many. However, that does not making superior in any manner. Treat your potential employees like trash and that is probably what you will end up with.