How to Make Sure Your Recruiting Efforts Aren’t Attracting the Wrong Candidates

As a startup, the hiring process is vital to your success and plan for growth. So, the last thing you want to do is spend hours plowing through resumes and interviewing candidates only to be upset with the people you hired.  

Your goal is long-term hires, and you don’t want to waste time and money hiring the wrong people. According to Investopedia, the cost of a “full-baked” employee can range from one and a half to three times their salary. These costs can include the hiring and interview process, training, benefits, etc.  

If you hire wrong, it can be a very costly mistake.

To assist you in your hiring process, here’s how to make sure your recruiting efforts aren’t attracting the wrong people.  

Open Your Field Broader

You don’t always have to hire people with relevant work experience, especially if you aren’t hiring in the medical, law, or engineering fields.  

Because you are a startup, your fast growth means everything to your success, and you can really hamper your efforts by only looking for someone whose skill-set is exactly aligned with your requirements. 

Sometimes people overlook the best candidates because they don’t want to go through a lot of training. This can limit your access to the best talent pool.  

Open yourself up a bit and look for people who check most of the boxes, but be open to the ones who don’t check all of them.         

Get creative and look for experience and strengths that are similar to what you are looking for. For example, a big idea marketing person may be just what you need to oversee your growth in another city.  

No matter who you hire, you’re going to have to train them, so make sure this doesn’t limit you and keep you from hiring the best people. 

Use a Descriptive Job Description

You can also attract the wrong people with an inaccurate or incomplete job description.  

Make sure that your job description spells the duties of the job out in great detail. Your job description helps people self-identify and self-exclude themselves from your job pool.  

Consider your job description as the gatekeeper for the best candidates.  

Define Your Hiring Process

Many employers look for one specific attribute. For example, they may decide to only hire people who went to their Alma mater.  

Or, they may only interview candidates who have a master’s degree.  

Relying solely on one specific attribute can also limit your hiring field.  

Consider coming up with a complete list of attributes that are acceptable to you.  

Look Internally First

Oftentimes businesses limit themselves to only hiring new people and not looking inward.  

This can hurt you because many times you have the perfect candidate sitting at the desk next to yours. You don’t always have to look outside for new employees.  

As an added bonus, when you look inside your company, you save money on the entire hiring and even on-boarding process. 

Take Your Time When Hiring

Many companies are in a rush when hiring and want to fill open positions as quickly as possible. This again can cause you problems.  

If you can slow down and map out your hiring process, it will be better for you in the long run.  

Really know what you’re looking for, have complete job descriptions, several interviews, and an interview committee to help you search and screen for the best results. 

Final Thoughts

The best way to attract the best new hires is to first know what you want and where you want to go.  

Create a road map for your hiring and know how you will measure your potential candidates.  

Not only will it help you eliminate the wrong people, it will help you make a list of the best potential candidates.  

You can also set out a grading scale as you go through the interview process, and this will help you find the best people.  

Try to predict the quality of your new hires before you hire them, and you’ll feel more confident that you’re attracting the right people. 

Are you a new startup ready to succeed? Are you looking to get your new business off the ground and watch it rise to success? We are here for you. We can help answer your questions and guide you through the process. Outsource your HR duties, finances, payroll and more to us. Contact Escalon today to get started.   

Image: Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash