Hiring a bad fit isn’t just annoying, it can cost you a lot of time and money. Recruiters don’t make the final decision when making a new hire but play a key role in the hiring journey to get there.
Today’s round-table discussion will cover ways to avoid making a bad hire.
Listen in on what our panelists have to say.
This event is part of the “Let’s Talk Recruiting” series where a panel of recruiting practitioners get together online and have a conversation on a variety of topics related to corporate recruiting.
Click to Play the Recording
Our Panelists…
| Name & LinkedIn Profile | Group | Title | Company |
| Cara Schaeffer | Recruiting LA | Recruiter | Tiktok |
| Erika Klics | Recruiting LA | Recruiter | Zapier |
| Glenn Padewski | TA Leaders | CVP, Talent Acquisition Manager | New York Life Insurance Company |
| Matthew Liptak | TA Leaders | Director, Talent Acquisition | Aura |
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We asked our attendees, “What is one tip you recommend recruiters should do to help a company avoid making a bad hire?”
Here are their answers:
- Ask candidates behavioral-based/style questions with examples provided
- Ask thorough questions related to the role and it’s success.
- Ask why they left their previous job
- asking the right questions of the hiring manager about the position to understand the position better
- Assess engagement from the beginning to make sure they will be a good fit
- Be clear if you’re hiring for a skill set that is needed for today or 12 months from today
- behavioral interview questions
- behavioral interviews
- Candidates inflexibility throughout the interview process
- check references of former managers
- communication
- competency based interviews
- Create screening questions that align to your companies core values
- Determine motivational fit
- Does the candidate fit into the companies culture, vision and mission
- ensure hiring managers are using effective interview techniques
- Ensure that interviews allow adequate time for candidate questions
- Ensure to include a diverse assessment team
- Find out what they the goals and reasons of why the potential hire is making a move.
- Follow a structured interview process with proven results
- Gather data on the best hires within a business unit. Where did they come from? Look at indicators you can use as benchmarks.
- Have a thorough, inclusive selection process.
- Have candidates complete behavioral assessments.
- Hire proactively not reactively!
- Identify a strategic, diverse interview panel upfront + don't change that + have an interview debrief conversation together
- Include, not only team members, but also a collegue outside of the team who will collab with the new hire in the int procecess
- incorporate panel into interview process
- Interview multiple candidates and have more than one interviewer
- just do not go on culture fit
- Know the culture and how the candidate will fit in
- Let another member of the team sit on on the interview to make an informed decision.
- Listen to candidates criteria what they are looking for, good matches to positions, references, & reasons for leaving
- Listen to your gut
- Listen to your instincts
- Make sure proper expectations are set on both sides (HM's and candidates) from the beginning of a process.
- Make sure you have a good understanding of company culture.
- Make sure you interview the candidate as well
- More than 1 interview is generally needed to get to know someone. Sometimes it's like a different person in the 2nd meeting.
- Multiple interviews, assessments, references and background checks
- Networking
- Past history is generally an indicator of future performance, or lack thereof
- Pay attention to your gut.
- push back on leaders if you see red flags at any point in the process
- remind hiring managers: a bad hire is worse than no hire
- Robust interview process
- Screening, evaluation process Set right expectations
- Situational interviewing & practical skills assessments
- standardize the interview process
- take your time to do your due diligence
- Thorough intake calls to define competencies needed
- Thorough interviews
- understanding a candidate's motivation
- Use behavioral based questions and don't be afraid to probe for additional information
- Use predictive index
- Use the interview and all of the process to make the best decision and then train and support the Person so they can succeed
- vet for fit as well as just technical requirements to your role
Chat Messages from the Session…
10:03:18 >> From Sean Rehder : Feel free to add any comments or questions here in the Chat area.
Make sure as an attendee, if you message something in the Chat area that you select “All Panelists and Attendees.”
The default is just to Panelists but I want everyone to see the messages coming through.
10:09:40 >> From Katelyn Dehm : For those of us who are new to the HR field, do you recommend any particular templates for scorecards? I am on SHRM, but was curious how you developed them internally.
10:13:31 >> From Catherine Hansen : @All, do you as recruiter hold a debrief/reveal with the hiring team to review the collective scorecard/results? Or is it only done with hiring manager?
10:13:55 >> From Matt Liptak : we would do a round table usually at the end
10:16:09 >> From Dang Hua : Anybody use Predictive Index in the selection process?
10:17:27 >> From Daniella McDonald : @Dang, yes. In my last role we used PI.
10:18:01 >> From Daniella McDonald : With the scorecards, are there specific questions you provide to hiring managers to ask about each of the criteria candidates are being evaluated on?
10:18:11 >> From Dang Hua : High Level, what are your thoughts?
10:20:32 >> From Catherine Hansen : @Cara, do you debrief for each candidate going through the process, or wait until all candidates in a round have completed the process?
10:21:07 >> From Jessica Marotta : Do you debrief candidates against each other or the job?
10:21:11 >> From Daniella McDonald : @Dang It’s a great tool to use as part of the process, along with resumes, screening questions. It provides insight into someone’s behavioral characteristics and how that might affect their performance. Or how a manager can manage that employee, communicate with them. What type of work might be best for the employee.
10:22:13 >> From Matt Liptak : we debrief on candidates skill sets and interviews as compared to the role
10:22:37 >> From Dang Hua : @Daniella Thank you for your insight!
10:24:32 >> From Catherine Hansen : @All, excellent idea re requirement of scorecards/feedback completed before debrief. How realistic is it that hiring panel is completing these in a timely manner? HUGE issue at my company…..
10:27:03 >> From Daniella McDonald : no problem @dang
10:27:35 >> From Matt Englund to All panelists : I like to review the requirements for the role before diving into a debrief session to ensure everyone is aligned on what we’re looking for
10:29:07 >> From Catherine Hansen : Agree, references etc is separate from debrief / interview feedback, and only hiring manager sees them.
10:29:27 >> From Daniella McDonald : With the scorecards, are there specific questions you provide to hiring managers to ask about each of the criteria candidates are being evaluated on?
10:29:46 >> From Catherine Hansen : What are anonymous reference checking tools – are they just looking to verify name, title, dates of employment? Sounds a bit creepy……
10:30:20 >> From Erika Klics : Today we use a company called SkillSurvey and we’re exploring a tool called Searchlight
10:30:37 >> From Matt Liptak : second skill survey, what we use as well
10:31:01 >> From Matt Liptak : it ranks the references and keeps them private
10:32:47 >> From DeLaina Piowaty : We don’t do reference checks. Candidates only give positive references. Its a waste of time.
10:33:06 >> From David Marr to All panelists : Most of the companies I have worked at in the last 10 years don’t do Reference Checks, and within the last 5 years No background Checks or Drug Tests
10:33:11 >> From Matt Liptak : with the automated checking tools, we have actually seen the opposite
10:33:18 >> From Erika Klics : +1
10:33:26 >> From Catherine Hansen : I would have been fired at my last (tech giant) job for checking references at beginning of stage. Also backdoor reference checks are grounds for firing
10:33:27 >> From Matt Liptak : candidates sign off on liability for their references
10:33:47 >> From Matt Liptak : and we have not hired due to poor references from these tools
10:34:11 >> From Kara Wilson : We also use a tool (Checkster) and have seen some surprising candid references. Even more impactful, we have seen some instances of fraud that the tool caught, which was even more telling than the references would be.
10:34:26 >> From John Przybylek : Formal references don’t provide value. To Glenn’s point, we can always track down someone who knew a candidate at a specific site, and has some anecdotes about said candidate’s performance, etc.
10:34:39 >> From Maureen Daly to All panelists : would do at final stage and before offer
10:34:46 >> From Jessica Marotta : We moved away from reference checking a few years back. as they did not add value.
10:35:09 >> From Jessica Marotta : *for Forrester
10:37:08 >> From Catherine Hansen : Contacting people outside of those references given formally by candidate seems like an invasion of privacy. I think every working professional will have a detractor/non supporter in their career at some point
10:40:46 >> From Cara Schaeffer : Many times, we check with our reception team to see how their interaction was with the candidate when they checked in for their interview.
10:45:48 >> From Jessica Marotta : I love that! Aren’t going to hold onto the baggage from the interview.
10:53:26 >> From John Przybylek : We dissect exit interview feedback to identify root cause of the separation.
10:54:05 >> From Catherine Hansen : +1
10:57:23 >> From Jessica Marotta : +1 Sean
10:57:37 >> From Sandra Maldonado : This was an informative workshop with tools and ideas that can add value.
10:57:40 >> From Catherine Hansen : Thank you panelists!
10:58:07 >> From Kimberly Dymond Balogh to All panelists : This has been great information! Thank you panel
10:59:58 >> From John Przybylek : Thanks guys
11:00:11 >> From Maureen Daly to All panelists : thanks everyone
Some of the attendees…
| Name & LinkedIn Profile | Group | Title | Company |
| Nyesha Song | Recruiting Atlanta | Talent Acquisition Coordinator | Solidifi |
| Jessica Marotta | Recruiting Boston | Principal, Talent Acquisition | Forrester |
| Shawn Watzka | Recruiting Chicago | Senior Recruiter | Inpatient Psych Solutions |
| Katie Stevens | Recruiting Chicago | Talent Acquisition Leader | GE Healthcare |
| Kimberly Dymond Balogh | Recruiting Dallas | Sr. Talent Acquisition Specialist | Core Mark International |
| Martin Hancock | Recruiting Denver | Sr. Technical Recruiter | Alteryx |
| Delaina Silva | Recruiting Denver | Senior Talent Acquisition Consultant | SDL plc |
| Justin Zapol | Recruiting Denver | Sr. Talent Acquisition Business Partner | Centauri |
| John Przybylek | Recruiting Denver | Senior Technical Recruiter | CAI |
| Sandra Maldonado | Recruiting LA | HR Business Partner and Recruiter | Esri |
| Lance Hunsicker | Recruiting LA | Executive Recruiter | Parsons Corporation |
| Cindy Wong | Recruiting LA | Sr. Talent Acquisition Specialist | Princess Cruises |
| Dang Hua | Recruiting LA | Talent Acquisition Business Partner | Opus Bank |
| Katherine Amato | Recruiting LA | Senior Corporate Recruiter | Guitar Center |
| Bez Rengifo | Recruiting LA | Sr. Manager / Director, People Services (HR Business Partner department) | Loma Linda University Health Care |
| Matt Englund | Recruiting Minneapolis | Talent Acquisition Leader | Nerdery |
| Robin Kohls | Recruiting Minneapolis | Talent Acquisition Recruiter | Cargill/Versique |
| Dana Bozich | Recruiting Minneapolis | Talent Acquisition Specialist | Sedgwick |
| Hansol Lee | Recruiting NYC | Talent Acquisition Manager | CAST |
| Alexa Montane | Recruiting NYC | Senior Recruiter | Open To Work |
| Twyla Hatchett | Recruiting Seattle | Lead Talent Acquisition Partner | Darigold |
| Maureen Daly | Recruiting Seattle | Talent Acuuisition Consultant | Rose International |
| Abby Dooley | Recruiting Seattle | Recruiter (Technical) | Edifecs |
| Tracey Gilbert-Dimof | Recruiting Seattle | Talent Acquisition Manager | Urban Plates |
| Jessica Burgess | Recruiting Seattle | Director, Talent Acquisition | Zones |
| Melayne Smith | Recruiting Seattle | Talent Acquisition Specialist | Washington State Employees Credit Union |
| Reema Goyal | Recruiting Seattle | Sr recruiter | Accenture |
| Poochie Malik | Recruiting SFBA | Sr. Technical Recruiter | EAT Club |
| Audrey Fong | Recruiting SFBA | Talent Acquisition Manager | cPrime |
| Danielle West | Recruiting SFBA | Regional Recruiting Manager | BDO USA, LLP |
| Radhika Aggarwal | Recruiting SFBA | Senior Technical Recruiter | Macy's |
| Catherine Hansen | Recruiting SFBA | Senior Manager, Recruiting | Hippo Insurance |
| Katie Hoffmeister | Recruiting.Work | Talent Acquisition Recruiter | H&A Architects & Engineers |
| Jay Barrow | TA Leaders | Head of Talent Acquisition | Southern States Cooperative |
| Nancee Martin | TA Leaders | Managing Director Corporate Recruiting | AvAirPros |
| Melissa Rutledge | TA Leaders | Talent Acquisition Director | Point B |
| Michelle Sickles | TA Leaders | Director of Talent Acquisition | IFM Restoration |
| Daniella McDonald | TA Leaders | Talent Acquisition Leader | Looking for Work |
| Mike Sensenig | TA Leaders | Director of Talent Acquisition | Haller Enterprises |
| Barbara Nichols | TA Leaders | Director of Staff Recruiting | Milton Hershey School |
| David Baker | TA Leaders | Sr. Director of Growth & Development/Brokerage Services | One Homecare Solutions |
| Steve Chapman | TA Leaders | Director Talent Acquisition | Thornton Tomasetti |
| Kara Wilson | TA Leaders | Recruiting Director | MorganFranklin Consulting |
| Susan Landon | TA Leaders | Director of Talent Acquisition | HELP USA |
| Mahen Kathirithamby | TA Leaders | Director Of Recruiting | Looking for Work |
| Glenn Murani | TA Leaders | Director of Talent Acquisition | Optima Global Solutions |
