9 bad hiring practices you need to change today

Bad hiring practices to avoid

Hiring new staff can greatly affect your team’s success. However, hiring managers often overlook old or poor hiring practices when trying to fill roles quickly.

These hidden problems waste time and money. They also hurt your company’s reputation. This can drive away top talent before you have a chance to impress them.

Ready to turn things around? Use these proven strategies to improve your hiring process and consistently attract top candidates.

#1: Failing to reassess a role

Failing to reassess a role before hiring can lead to mismatched expectations and missed opportunities. Job requirements and team needs often change, so sticking to old role descriptions can lead to attracting the wrong candidates. 

You might also miss out on important skills that are now essential. This disconnect can result in longer hiring times, higher turnover, and reduced team productivity.

Without a clear and updated understanding of the role, you may make decisions based on old assumptions. Reassessing the role helps you find the right candidates. It also makes the hiring process easier. This way, you can build a stronger and more effective team.

Reassess your roles for every new hire

Every time an employee leaves, a company should re-evaluate the open position and make any necessary changes. Check the tasks that are no longer important. Give responsibilities to others when needed. Add more details to the job.

If you have ever considered taking this position in another direction, now is the time. Don't wait until you have a new employee in this role before making changes to the job.

#2: Badly written job ads with irrelevant requirements

Badly written job ads can sabotage your hiring efforts before they even begin. When job descriptions are unclear or too complex, you may attract unqualified candidates. 

You might also miss out on great talent. This wastes valuable time sorting through irrelevant applications. It also creates confusion about the role and what your company represents.

A poorly written job ad can hurt your credibility as a hiring manager. It may also give candidates a bad impression of your organisation. Writing clear and engaging job ads helps you reach the right audience. This makes it easier to find qualified candidates who are excited about the job.

Rewrite your job ads

Take some time to rewrite the job description – don't just recycle old job ads. You need to make sure that it is concise, appealing, and accurate. It should clearly outline the skills and needs the job will entail.

Be concise. Make it thoughtful and descriptive; don't list every task that the person may ever perform. A detailed job description should help reduce the number of irrelevant resumes you receive through job applications.

Leave only essential requirements in the posting. If you do not need a Doctorate to perform this role, don't make it mandatory.

Make sure to keep only the key descriptors. This will help attract the right attention without discouraging candidates from different industries. 

#3: Forgetting to ensure job descriptions are gender-neutral

Job descriptions that are not inclusive or gender-neutral can unintentionally exclude a diverse group of candidates. This can limit your access to the best talent. Language that favors a specific gender or leaves out certain groups can discourage qualified applicants. This can reduce your candidate pool and strengthen unconscious biases.

For hiring managers, this means missing out on diverse perspectives that can drive innovation and improve team performance.

Creating job postings with inclusive, gender-neutral language helps you reach more people. It also shows that your company values diversity and fairness. This approach attracts more candidates who feel welcome and confident sharing their unique skills and experiences. 

Make sure your job descriptions are inclusive

Small changes can make a significant impact on hiring practices. Using blind hiring or consistent interview rules helps ensure fair consideration for all qualified candidates. 

Small details in job descriptions may be sending subtle messages indicating what gender recruiters imagine for a role. Using tools like Textio can help craft gender-neutral job descriptions that are inclusive.

Do you know if your hiring practices are equitable to give candidates a fair shot regardless of gender? If not, it's time to do some investigations.

Watch our video for more tips on how to hire and build diverse teams

#4: Not including a salary range for a role 

Leaving salary details out of job ads can create frustration and mistrust among potential candidates. Without clear pay information, qualified applicants may think twice about applying. They might also waste time on jobs that don’t meet their needs. 

This lack of transparency often results in more unsuitable applications. This makes the hiring process longer and increases costs. 

For hiring managers, including salary information upfront signals openness and respect for candidates’ time. It helps attract serious applicants who see the role’s value. This makes the selection process easier and improves your chances of finding top talent quickly.

Include the salary on your job description

Every job has a salary range; there is no need to be coy about it. Be upfront during telephone interviews/pre-screens, or state the salary range in the job description. You will save yourself and the candidate's time.

Benchmarking salary ranges also has the benefit of reducing salary resentment between co-workers.

#5: Ignoring internal candidates

Ignoring internal candidates when hiring can lead to missing valuable talent. These candidates already know your company’s culture and goals. 

Furthermore, not paying attention to your current employees can lower their morale. It also suggests that there are few chances for growth. This can cause more employees to leave. 

For hiring managers, choosing external candidates can lead to longer onboarding times. It also means a steeper learning curve for these new hires.

Consider internal candidates first

Your current employees are your greatest asset. After all, they already know your systems and understand your products or services. Whenever possible, look to promote from within first.

Always share job openings with your current employees before posting them externally. Give your best and brightest a chance to shine in a more challenging role. Employees may feel frustrated when they’re qualified for a role but never knew it was open.

The benefits of doing this are twofold: Backfilling a junior role is always easier than filling a more senior one. And promoting from within creates a positive work environment where employees feel they have room to grow their careers.

#6: Your interview practices are outdated

Interviews should be conversations. Your potential employees are not on trial – don't interrogate them.

Without a good discussion, you will never get to know a candidate's real personality. This means stepping away from the script. We want them to share what they want in their next job. We also want to get them excited about this opportunity.

Stop asking trick questions like, "A penguin walks through that door right now wearing a sombrero. What does he say, and why is he here?" As humorous as that is, does it help you understand the person you're interviewing?

Try to eliminate questions that allow unconscious bias into your decision-making. Remove the useless questions that resulted in your last bad hire. Get rid of the robotic script and start having real conversations, like real people trying to find out if they can work together.

Finally, always be on time for your interviews. You set an incredibly poor example when you are late, and give off the impression that their time is not important to you. 

Freshen up your interview practices

Here are some more ways to revitalise your interview approach:

• Create specific questions: Go beyond basic questions. Focus on candidates' problem-solving skills, how they fit with your culture, and their career goals. This shows you value and recognise their unique strengths.
• Create a welcoming environment: Whether virtual or in-person, ensure the setting is comfortable and free from distractions. Greet candidates warmly, provide clear instructions, and allow time for them to ask questions.
• Streamline the process: Avoid unnecessary rounds or delays. Communicate timelines clearly and provide feedback promptly to keep candidates engaged and respectful of their time.
• Involve multiple perspectives: Include team members who will work directly with the new hire. This not only gives candidates a broader view of the team but also helps assess fit from different angles.

Refreshing your interview practices signals professionalism and respect, helping you build a positive reputation among candidates. It encourages top talent to accept offers and becomes a foundation for a strong employer brand.

Check out our video on how to avoid the most common onboarding mistakes

#7: Neglecting to check that interviewers know how to interview

We worry that managers don't know how to manage, so we train them to be great managers. We recognise that managing is not an innate skill. But for some reason, we assume that anyone can conduct a successful interview.

Interviewers also need training. Not only to make sure they are asking relevant questions but to ensure they are not asking inappropriate ones.

Here are key ways to prepare your interviewers:

• Provide interview training: Hold formal training sessions. These sessions should cover best practices and legal issues. Teach techniques for asking open-ended, behavioral questions. This will help reveal candidates’ true potential. 
  
  
• Share clear evaluation criteria. Provide interviewers with scorecards or rubrics that highlight the key skills and traits for the role. This helps reduce bias and ensures fair assessments. 
  
  
• Encourage active listening: Teach interviewers to listen closely and take notes. This helps them respond thoughtfully and ask deeper questions about candidates’ answers. 
  
  
• Encourage candidate engagement: Train interviewers to have a two-way conversation. They should answer candidate questions and share insights about the company culture and the role. 

When interviewers are confident and ready, the interview process works better and is fairer. Candidates feel respected and valued. This sets the stage for better hiring decisions and strengthens your company’s reputation as an employer of choice.

Unsure where to start with implementing training in the workplace? Check out our video!

#8: Ghosting candidates after interviews

Respect goes both ways. If you don’t respect candidates’ time during interviews, how can you expect their respect once they’re hired? 

Provide candidate feedback after interviews

Let them know the next steps before they even leave the interview. If your hiring decision is delayed, inform candidates about the reason and when they can expect an update.

When you finally make your selection, thank all the candidates who applied, and let them know you've hired someone else. It may take time, but it is an easy way to make sure your company has a great reputation. 

#9: Not checking references after making a job offer

Skipping reference checks during the hiring process can leave you vulnerable to costly mistakes. If you don't check a candidate's past work and habits, you could hire the wrong person. This person may not meet your needs. They might also not fit your company culture. 

Reference checks give important information that interviews and resumes often overlook. They reveal qualities like reliability, teamwork, and professionalism. These traits can greatly affect long-term success in a job.

Skipping reference checks can lead to higher turnover rates. This can disrupt team dynamics and waste time and resources to fix. For hiring managers, this step is important. It helps them make smart choices and ensures new hires fit your organisation’s values and needs.

Perform reference checks

Reference checks should be considered a critical part of the interview process. It is the lazy interviewer who forgets to check them before an offer goes out.

References are your final verification of a candidate's past job performance. It would be unprofessional if you revoke an offer because of something you discover later in a reference check.

Summing up: Implementing hiring best practices 

Updating your hiring practices is essential to attracting and retaining the best talent in today’s competitive market. It begins with reviewing roles to make sure job descriptions meet current needs. Then, create clear and inclusive job ads that attract the right candidates. 

Including clear job details like salary and using gender-neutral language helps attract more applicants and shows that your company supports diversity and transparency. 

Equally important is refreshing your interview process to create a welcoming, efficient, and engaging experience. Training interviewers and giving them clear evaluation criteria leads to fairer interviews and better conversations, helping candidates show their true strengths. 

Including multiple team perspectives and respecting candidates’ time further enhances your employer brand and builds trust.

Don’t overlook the value of internal candidates or the critical step of conducting thorough reference checks. Promoting from within boosts morale and retention, while verifying candidates’ backgrounds helps avoid costly hiring mistakes. Together, these improvements create a more effective, transparent, and candidate-focused hiring process.

By adopting these changes, hiring managers can hire more effectively and quickly, while also improving their company’s culture and reputation. 

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