We are all human. The person who runs a small company or one from a large conglomerate is still a human and humans make mistakes. Although it may not seem like it because they carry the reigns of your future, they breathe, they eat and they still sleep in a bed like you at night, might be a 100,000 thread count but it's still a bed. Now as much as they will never admit it to you they admit to me, they make mistakes and in my 10 years of business here are the top regrets CEOs and hiring managers have when deciding or not deciding to hire you:
1. They Did Not Hire Their First Person
There are many different type of personalities. Some like to hire off the seat of their pants and others like to take their time to mull things over to ensure they make the right hiring decision. The problem is as they mull things over the potential employee mulls things over and if you are taking months to hire, they are thinking "What's wrong with them?". We all have the same amount of hours in a day, the hiring manager and CEO may just have more things to do within that time frame so meeting too many of the wrong people is a waste of time for everyone.
2. Negotiating Too Low
CEOs want to save money but by saving a dollar they can be losing hundreds and thousands if not millions for the wrong hire. Come in too low with an offer and you risk losing your candidate for lack of respecting not just the market but the candidate in question.
3. Hiring Without Testing
You need to test your people. You need to find a way to ensure the person you are bringing on is going to match the needs you require for the job at hand. Let it be a few hours to see how they fit in, an online test for personality, a written test for grammar, whatever the case may be, test the people you want to bring on board as they might just be great at interviewing.
4. Hiding Information
If you are re-locating, if you are planning on acquiring other companies, if the person is being replaced, if there are budget cuts and there were severe layoffs but you are hiring now, all needs to be addressed as the candidate interviewing is likely wondering. If you don't tell them now you risk wasting money by investing in an employee who will leave you later.
5. Hiring Skill Over Attitude or Attitude Over Skill
There needs to a balance between attitude and skills. Everyone needs to start somewhere but they may not need to start with you. You can't hire solely on skills or only on attitude. Your company culture is important but you also need a job to get done. Ensure you hire the right person to do so. You have a job description in your head for a reason, keep in mind if you truly believe the person in front of you can help your company move forward. If there's a doubt, move on!!
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