1. Failure to pre-screen candidates. Pre-screening is a must for recruiting and hiring the best employees. An initial 20- to 30-minute phone conversation with a candidate can prevent many wasted hours.

2. Evaluating only personality instead of job skills and experience. Let’s say you’re positive that you want a person with a sunny disposition and a positive outlook. There’s nothing wrong with that, but be careful: Numerous studies have shown that there is little correlation between personality characteristics and any specific job. Skill-based tests or job-knowledge tests have been shown to be consistent predictors of success on the job.

3. Setting too many criteria. Avoid the temptation to draw up a long laundry list of selection criteria for the position. The most accurate prediction of success on the job is based on no more than six to eight factors. Adding superfluous selection criteria actually dilutes the accuracy of the selection process. Start by developing a clear job description for the position. What are your goals for the new hire? What are the skills and abilities that person should possess? Be sure to concentrate on specific job-related criteria, not subjective information. Being able to clearly state what you expect of an applicant will go a long way toward developing a positive working relationship.

4. Using yourself as an example. Managers often use their own skills and experience as a yardstick for evaluating job candidates. That’s not a good idea—be sure to rely on independent criteria for a particular job.

5. Failure to differentiate critical job skills via testing and discussion. Deductive reasoning and “gut feeling” are not enough. Skills often can only be measured by carefully developed tests or real on-the-job trials. That said, pre-employment testing should be used as only one component of the entire pre-employment process, not as the front-end deciding factor in determining which candidates to interview. The testing should be used as a later step in the pre-employment process. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Uniform Guidelines on Selection Procedures is an excellent source for more information on this topic.

6. Not researching the reasons people have failed in a job. Common sense tells us that past behavior is a predictor of future behavior. But research shows that people often fail in a job for reasons unrelated to the criteria used to hire them in the first place.

7. Failing to carefully check resumes and references. Industry figures show that 15 percent to 20 percent of job candidates try to hide something about their employment record. And according to Kessler International, a New York-based security and investigations firm, more than 25 percent of 1,000 resumes it examined for technology companies in 1999 contained phony information or false credentials. Depending on the position, you should check applicants’ driving records, criminal history, educational achievements and personal or professional references. Also, be sure to verify whether they actually worked where they say they did. Just remember that you must have written consent to conduct a background check or else you may risk a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Second, if you do this, you have to do it for everyone in that position to avoid any claims of discrimination.

Recruiting and hiring is a cumbersome process, even for resource-rich large corporations. Businesses are increasingly relying on professional employer organizations (PEOs) to assist with their recruiting and hiring. A PEO functions as a human resources department for small and medium-sized businesses. Full-service PEOs help their clients find and hire the most qualified employees, handling everything from resume review and interviewing to background checks and pre-employment testing.

Article provided by Administaff, a professional employer organization.

www.administaff.com