Common hiring blunders recruiters make

New Delhi: Unclear job descriptions, sticking to old hiring methods and ignoring cultural fit are some of the most common hiring blunders recruiters make, reveals a new study by an online job portal. Recruitment blunders can prove costly for any organisation and a bad hire can damage the reputation of the business, hitting its bottom lines and brand value.

Yet, nearly 62 per cent hiring managers and recruiters, surveyed by portal admit to hiring candidates who weren't the best fit for the positions. "It is a highly competitive world and the war for talent is equally brutal as that for business. High quality talent is the only sustainable differentiator in this rapidly transforming age of the Internet. And successful companies will be those that can attract and retain skilled HR. Hiring Managers today ace the art of presenting their organisation's best attributes and making it part of the recruitment pitch, thereby convincing top talent to join.

However, with lack of due diligence on the fronts of clarity of role, career path and cultural fit - talent retention remains a big challenge," says Vivek Madhukar, COO, TimesJobs. Tjinsite knowledge series reveals the biggest recruitment gaffes are process-related and unclear job descriptions are the most common mistakes; admit 55 per cent of the surveyed organisations.

The other most common mistakes, according to the survey, are the use of outdated methods for screening and hiring candidates (46 per cent) and ignoring the relevance and importance of a good cultural fit (40 per cent). Selecting a candidate just because he or she fits the salary range is also a prominent blunder employers tend to make. Nearly 60 per cent hiring managers admit that CTC is regularly given preference over skill sets while hiring talent as there is tremendous pressure to adhere to budgets.

Also, while respondents admit conducting reference checks is essential, they do not rely too much on them, reveals the portal. While a significant majority (70 per cent) of hiring managers believes that reference checks are important, only 58 per cent actually conduct reference checks for every applicant.

Hiring Managers further reveal that 20-30 per cent candidates fake the references that they provide and admitted that 10-20 per cent applications are rejected after background screening. TimesJobs.com obtained responses from 713 hiring managers in companies across major employment hubs in India for this study.

Unstated opinions of hiring managers

• 66 per cent hiring managers feel reporting managers are unable or unwilling to hire people who seem more competent than them.
• 58 per cent hiring managers feel many conservative managers overemphasize the need for domain skills and experiences even before the interview stage.
• 56 per cent hiring managers feel many managers over-rely on intuition or gut-feel.
• 52 per cent hiring managers feel most managers are unable to get over their first impression (positive or negative) of the candidate.
• 48 per cent hiring managers feel many reporting managers focus more on work-related competency than the motivation and drive to do the job.
• 45 per cent hiring managers feel only a few managers properly assess soft skills.