The “interview” is a key component of the hiring process. Hiring managers depend on candidate interviews to give them a window into the business (and even personal) lives of the people they are considering hiring. Make the wrong choice and you could negatively alter the dynamics of your workplace. On the flip side, choosing the right candidate will enhance and breathe new life into your organization. Being in the Clinical and Molecular Diagnostics sector makes no real difference to the basic premise of an interview. Whether for sales or engineering, or anything in between, hiring managers make mistakes during those interviews, and here are the top five.
1. Failure to conduct background checks and references early in the process. This is a basic premise of the hiring process that should be one of the first tasks performed. Some hiring managers don’t do this at all, let alone early on. In fact, the Society of Human Resources Management says 22 percent of companies only check the backgrounds and references for certain candidates, while two percent don’t contact references at all. Researching the background of a potential candidate can provide invaluable insight into what it’s really like to work with or manage someone in this field. Anyone can put on a good face during an interview and impress the hiring team. References can provide you with additional insights that will allow you to plan you management strategy and style with your new employee.
2. Taking too long in the process. Within the highly competitive marketplace that is Clinical and Molecular Diagnostics, hiring managers may feel a long recruitment process, with exhaustive vetting procedures and several rounds of interviews, is the best way to weed through all the candidates to find the “diamond in the rough”. Surprisingly, though, the practice of “slow hiring” can be extremely damaging. Not only can you lose your best candidates who are in the highest demand by making them wait through the late stages of your recruitment process, you’re losing revenue and productivity due to vacant positions that are open for far too long. By preparing a consistent yet expedient hiring process, your team should be able to gather the insights necessary to make a hiring decision and do so without risk of losing the best candidates.
3. Moving the process along too quickly. On the other side of things, hiring too quickly means you lose the upper hand through the elimination of proper vetting research. Not only that, your best candidates need to know more about your company but you are the one who is looking for a soft landing spot. This doesn’t present your company in the best light if you are willing to take on whoever walks through the door and demonstrates even the slightest amount of competence.
4. Hiring your clone. Hiring managers often make the mistake of zeroing in on those candidates who are most like themselves, i.e., went to the same college and were a part of the same fraternity, mutual interest in golf, involved in the same types of charities. It’s natural to connect with others on a personal level. After all, who doesn’t want to work with someone that’s just like them and has all the same interests? Problem is, you could be putting yourself in a precarious position with committing discriminatory hiring practices, plus the end goal should be to hire people who challenge each other’s perspectives and push boundaries beyond your own thinking. A diverse workplace will thrive.
5. Failure to conduct a consistent interview process. Make sure you ask similar candidates all the same exact questions to keep it consistent across the board. Failure to do so could put you in violation of discrimination laws — not to mention, it just makes your decision easier at the end when you know the playing field has been leveled.
The end goal is to select the best possible candidate for the open position on your team. Establish a standard process that allows you and the other stake holders in the company to determine who the best candidates is for the job. Make sure you take the candidate into consideration, because part of your job is to “sell” them on why you and your company are right for them. Do you have more to add? Use the comments below to add to the discussion.