How do you know something is wrong with your hiring?

There are several ways to identify this. One of which is very simple. If you or your team has shortlisted 7-10 cv’s for the interview process and none of them has cleared.

Does more interviews lead to better quality?

Usually when you evaluate 7-10 candidates for a job, you have effectively seen all the possible variants available in the talent pool, excluding the exceptions. So when you try to further interview 10 more, all you will get to see is the same 10 variants repeating.

Of Course there is a chance you may find an exception at 50 interviews and feel the effort was worth it. However, it raises a few questions.

• Is this exception real or just your perception? (your mind rationalising how the 49th candidate was better than the 9th)

  
  

• Will this exceptional candidate stick around long enough with your company for it to be worth it.

  
  

• Could you have just given some time to a candidate who had potential to be exceptional from the first batch of 10? “If you do not have the bandwidth to do this, then you have already made a blunder of not hiring in time and are living the consequences”

  
  

Being too picky creates a circular problem. A slow hiring process means the team doesn’t have enough people, making it hard to find time and resources to train new hires. The lack of training becomes a reason to delay hiring even more, making a cycle that never ends.

How you will solve 4 potential problems by hiring swiftly

1. The position is filled in time and no other employee is taking that extra work load

   
   

2. No other employee is taking the extra load of 50 interviews to fill one position 

   
   

3. Your employer brand does not take a hit (interviewing too many people and not hiring does impact employer brand, this is something for another day)

   
   

4. Project delivery becomes easier as an overworked employee will add a ton of additional errors and then work more to resolve it.

   
   

A company’s reputation is connected to its ability to get and keep great talent. Taking a long time to hire, along with being too picky, can make good candidates not want to apply. In a close nit gaming job market where many companies are competing, having a bad reputation as an employer can cause long term problems.

5 Mistakes to Avoid in Hiring:

1. Focusing too much on Skills: Don’t give too much importance to every small skill. Look at candidates as a whole, thinking about how they can learn and grow.

   
   

2. Taking too Long to Decide: Making decisions quickly is important in hiring. Taking too much time puts pressure on the current team and contaminates the work culture.

   
   

3. Forgetting about Culture Fit: Skills are important, but fitting into the company culture matters too. Ignoring this can lead to unhappiness and people leaving.

   
   

4. Underestimating Potential: Look beyond just what a candidate can do now. Someone with a strong foundation and a willingness to learn can often be better than someone who already knows everything.

   
   

5. Not Being Flexible: Be open to changing expectations based on the talent available and what’s happening in the job market.

   
   

In the end, hiring is about finding the right balance between finding the right skills and seeing the potential for growth. Only focusing on small skill gaps can lead to a never-ending cycle of delays, hurting the company’s productivity and reputation. Managers need to break free from being too picky, make decisions quickly, and welcome candidates who have the potential to learn and contribute well. By rethinking hiring decisions and avoiding common mistakes, companies can build a team that adapts well and helps them succeed in the always-changing business world.