Is recruiting and selecting the right people a big challenge and just one of priorities you face every day? With these pressures, no wonder we make hiring mistakes. Well, you are not alone in this situation. Peter Drucker, Management Guru, has stated: “Chances are good up to 66% of your company’s hiring decisions will prove to be mistaken in the first 12 months.” What is contributing to making these mistakes?
Most managers have experienced and dreaded deciding who we believe is right for the job and organization. Hiring managers need to discover the secret that they and the candidates are contributing to making hiring mistakes.
In today’s economy, companies can receive literally hundreds of resumes for a job opening. A resume is a critical tool used by managers to reduce the number of applicants to a manageable number. Managers need to be aware more, and more job applicants are embellishing their resume in particularly their skills, responsibilities, and job titles.
A 2003 Wall Street Journal article reported 34% of applicants lied on their resumeA 2003 Wall Street Journal article reported 34% of applicants lied on their resume while a CareerBuilder survey reported greater than 1 out of 2 hiring managers has discovered job candidates lying on their resumes. The secret here is for hiring managers to know what they are looking for in a candidate. We know candidates are trying to stand out but having a set of hiring criteria will help in the selection recruiting process.
The hiring managers play a role in hiring mistakes too. Their busy daily world managers try to prepare as quickly as possible. Again CareerBuilder survey discovered s startling fact. Less than one out two hiring managers spend under 2 minutes review a candidate’s resume. If managers are spending this limited time on assessment candidates, how much time are they spending preparing for the interview? Even if the manager has prepared well, they still need to be aware of their bias and work hard, so it does not impact their conclusion about candidates. An SHRM study revealed and interesting fact that 63% of hiring managers decide about an applicant within the interview’s first 4.3 minutes. People say a first impression is a lasting impression and it appears to be true in a job interview.
As a hiring manager, we wish to ensure the candidate is the right fit for the company as well as the company being a good fit for the candidate. With the goal in mind, it is easy to see interviewing is important but only one part of a recruiting process. However; in his article “Utilizing all your resources”, Mike Smith reports conducting an interview and do background checks have a success rate of 26%.
What a hiring manager faces today are:
- Applicant resumes are at least embellished and not truthful;
- Demands on their time such that it is difficult to review and prepare for interviews;
- Their bias and opinions are influencing a quick decision about a candidate; and
- Interview and doing background checks is successful about one out four times.
How can hiring managers increase their hiring success? They can flip a coin, and it is head hire the candidate or tail rejects the person. If this approach is not appealing, then look for our reveal about how to increase your hiring success in our next article.
