With the Baby Bust kicking in all over the world, hiring is the number one issue for companies and solutions are thin on the ground. Research by Deutsch and Remillard, who wrote the book on hiring, found that there are 10 common mistakes that companies should avoid if they hope to achieve success in hiring.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Job Descriptions

Interviewers tended to focus on experience and skills rather than the company’s expectations for the position. This is a strong mismatch which can be solved by taking it a step further.

I recommend: Check out Lou Adler for information about Performance Profiles; one step up from a JD.

Superficial Interviews.

There was little in the way of checking or verifying of candidate’s experience and education.

I recommend: Verify, don't test.

Over-emphasis on Resume.

Interviewers focused too much on details in the Resume such as education, technical skills, and industry experience.

I recommend: Blogs on ERE offer information on a wide variety of areas.

Initial Impact.

Interviewers relied heavily on first impressions to make their hiring decisions.

I recommend: Watch out for the Halo Effect.

Historical Bias

Hiring teams used only past performance to predict future results. This was thought be insufficient.

I recommend: There are a wide variety of selection methods available to round out your view of a candidate.

Performance bias.

Candidates who ‘performed’ at interview tended to be chosen over real job performers.

I recommend: About dot com has the skinny on interviewing.

Active Candidates.

Companies tended to bottom feed and only attracted the active job seeker. Passive candidates were not succesfully targeted.

I recommend: Get a solid understanding of the motivation of candidates. Their motivations may not be what you expect. Everyone has their own story.

Best Predictors.

Interviewers tended not to focus on self-motivation, leadership, comparable past performance, job-specific problem solving and adaptability, and these have been shown to be strong predictors of performance.

I recommend: Not all selection methods are equal but most have specific level of predictability that can help you to choose the most appropriate method.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  One thing that companies did wrong is that they did not budget sufficient time and resources for a successful search. To find out more about hiring, check out ERE dot net or Workforce.com