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Recruiting Mistakes Companies Make and Why to Outsource

Recruiting top talent is hard to do. Job seekers have so many resources at their fingertips (online job boards, Twitter & LinkedIn to name but a few). Knowing where to find your ideal candidate can feel impossible.

Maybe you manage to find a great candidate, one who meets all requirements and ticks all the boxes, only to have them turn you down or accept another job offer while you’re busy getting sign-off on the decision.

There’s no doubt that recruiting employees can be a stressful and difficult process (especially when it’s not the main focus of your job). And then there’s the added pressure of knowing hiring mistakes can cost companies time and money (two of the top 3 reasons you should be outsourcing your recruitment).

While you can’t control the actions of candidates, we hope this article will guide you through some common recruiting mistakes, improving your hiring and selection process, and ultimately increasing your rate of offer acceptance.

Top 7 Recruiting Mistakes Companies Make
1.     Poorly Written Job Advert / Job Description

Writing the perfect job ad and job description is an article in itself. If you’re not familiar with the process then it’s well worth getting on Google and doing some research. Below is a quick summary of the basics, and two top tips from us.

A job advert should include:

  • Job title
  • Brief description of company/organisation
  • Candidate specification
  • Qualifications and experience
  • Job description
  • Location and salary
A job description should include:
  • Job title
  • Duties
  • Skills and competencies
  • Reporting Lines and Working Relationships
  • Salary

Two top tips (which in our experience are often missed and can make a real difference between a candidate applying or not):

  • Show the career path for the role. Research from Randstadtshows most staff leave firms due to a lack of future opportunities.
  • Ensure you highlight your company’s culture; applicants want to work for companies with a positive organisational culture.
2.     Badly Advertised Role

The main mistake recruiters make is having a poor marketing strategy. If you’re not attracting the right candidates at this stage, then everything else is null and void!

With a study showing that referrals are the leading internal origin for candidates who got job interviews, make sure you’re letting your staff and network know about any open positions.

As well as having a wealth of suitable candidates on their books, recruitment specialists also know where your ideal candidates are looking for jobs and can ensure your ads find the right people.

3.     Awkward Application Process

Assuming your ad has reached the eyes of a suitable candidate, the last thing you want is for them to be put off by a difficult application process. A good test is to try the process yourself; if you get half way through and feel like giving up then its likely potential candidates are doing just that, giving up!

When people apply, make sure you acknowle their applications as soon as possible*. Remember, this is the beginning of your relationship with a potential employee. You want them to feel good about your company (first impressions work both ways), so ensure it’s a friendly message explaining what they can expect to happen and when.

* StartWire survey revealed that 77% of applicants think worse of companies that don’t acknowledge their application, and wouldn’t recommend them to others.

4.     Rejecting Under Qualified Candidates

The best employees often have the right attitude and skills, not necessarily the right qualifications.

Don’t filter out “less qualified” candidates without giving them a chance. Hold a competency based interview to see if their past performance (rather than qualifications) makes them a good fit for your company.

5.     Skipping Background Checks

No exceptions, you always need to do a background check. It’s shocking how many companies miss this stage.

With nearly 3 in 10 employers surveyed by CareerBuilder  discovering a fake reference on an application, it should be clear why background checks are so important. But if you need extra reasons:

  • In 2013, employment screening helped to detect a 70% increase in false employment applications
  • Employee fraud costs UK companies an estimated £2bn a year
  • An estimated 20-50% of candidates embellish their credentials on CVs, and 15% of candidates back out of an application when told a check is required
  • 27% of applicants have given false references and 11% have falsely claimed to have a degree

(Source: Experian)

6.     Inadequate Interviews

You’ve manged to find some awesome candidates who appear to be a perfect fit for the role and the company. Mistakes can be made by employers at this stage in various ways; here are our top pointers for nailing the interview:

  • Create a casual environment for the interview; this encourages candidates to relax which gives you a truer insight into their personality.
  • As well having the right skills for the position, consider whether the person fits with your company culture. A clash could impact office morale, and potentially risk you losing other employees.
  • Ensure the right people from the business are in the interview. Great candidates will want a clear picture of the role and may have lots of questions. It doesn’t reflect well on the company if the person conducting the interview can’t answer them.
  • If there is a specific skill they need don’t just take their word for it, ask detailed questions that allow them to demonstrate their understanding or give them a task to complete.
7.     Delaying the Decision

Taking too long to make a decision could result in you missing out on the perfect candidates, who are likely to have several job options.  Don’t risk losing them to a competitor that moves quicker in the hiring process than you.

Even if you can’t reduce the time your hiring process takes, ensure you keep the candidates in the loop about what’s going on.

Finally, don’t ever settle for someone.  If you don’t find the right person the first time round then consider widening your pool of applicants by engaging the services of a recruitment firm. Hiring someone you know won’t work out is far more expensive, time consuming and disruptive!

How We Can Help With Your CAD & Technical Recruitment

A leader in technical and CAD recruitment since 1990, A4 Plus uses their industry expertise to source high-quality job candidates, while reducing hiring costs and ensuring that your organisation complies with UK employment requirements.

You Can Trust Us

As a member of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), we take pride in delivering an ethical service for our candidates and our clients.

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Let us share our years of experience with you, get in contact for a free, no-obligation chat with one of our friendly team to find your next star employee today.