Someone has rightly said, nothing we do in business is as crucial as hiring and developing talented employees. At the end of the day, we rely and bet on people, not strategies.
HR managers carry a huge burden on their shoulders as they are responsible for matching the right candidate with the right job. And that's certainly not as easy as it looks.
It's definitely not easy to judge someone's attitude, working style, or background from a few meetings and calls since everyone is at their best behavior during an interview. But there's always a loophole to which we call red flags that are crucial to watch out for before signing the offer letter.
Here are some telltale signs to watch out for the next time you meet or interact with a prospective candidate. Using them in your hiring process can actually save you from hiring someone who might not be the right fit for the job. Let's take a quick look at some of them.
Badmouthing their employers
A candidate who badmouths or insults his/her previous employer means that he/she is complaining or blaming someone else for the troubles and has a hard time accepting or owning up to the problems. If such an employee gets hired in an organization, he/she would definitely badmouth you, your managers, and your company's culture, too, which is indeed a threat to everyone's reputation in the market.
Having unauthentic resume
It is okay to exaggerate a few things on the resume until a candidate can justify and is authentic. Candidates who have "too good to be true resumes" need to be evaluated with care. Sometimes candidates over exaggerate their achievements to be a perfect fit for the job. And that's one of the few warning signs you must check out for.
Obviously, nobody likes to have a liar in the organization. (And it is also a red flag if your candidate shows up without extra copies of his/her resume and documents.)
But there are times when you have multiple job applications. In such cases, you don't have to go through all the resumes personally and judge an accurate representation of the candidates. Thankfully, with the help of technology and an online resume checker, you can easily audit each and every resume without missing anything important. In fact, the technology also looks for potential red flags hidden in the candidate's resume.
Being late for no reason
Punctuality is a virtue everyone should possess, and first impressions are indeed the most important ones.
Latecomers are often frowned upon- and why not. Being late for anything shouldn't be encouraged at any cost. And turning up late for something as crucial as a job interview is definitely a huge red flag and says so much about the candidate's character.
Being late for absolutely no reason signifies that the candidate has less or no interest in the job role and has no regard for someone else's time. And this behavior could be a huge problem for the organization's culture and reputation. Therefore, it is okay to reject a candidate politely who isn't punctual or has a casual approach and lacks enthusiasm for the job role.
Giving vague or dodging the questions
It is important for the candidates to do their homework before turning up for the interview. While few quirks during the interview are acceptable but not being able to answer some essential questions regarding the job role has to be the deal-breaker. In simple words, being generic at the interview and giving vague answers is a sign that the candidate might not be as experienced as he/she is portraying.
According to industry experts, if a candidate fumbles or fails to answer direct or basic questions and cannot support or back up their answers with useful facts and figures might have over-inflated or over-exaggerated their skills to be extra qualified than they actually are.
This clearly means that they aren't serious about the vacancy, and the job is just a plan B for them. And if your candidate tries to dodge or give vague answers to the questions related to the job role. Lack of knowledge and not being able to answer basic questions signifies that the candidate is definitely a misfit for the organization and job role.
Having suspicious employment history
It is possible that the candidate might have to take gaps in his/her employment career. That's perfectly fine. But the problem arises when those gaps aren't justified. You also need to decode the pattern of how frequently the candidate is changing his/her career paths or jobs. No one likes a job hopper as they can't be trusted enough. This means that they get bored or uninterested easily, and that's a sign of an inconsistent candidate who changes jobs too frequently.
So, make sure that you analyze your potential employee's work history and investigate the job change reasons of the candidate.
Lack of confidence
Communication skills are important in every job role. Be it a sales manager or receptionist, being confident at work matters. It is important for a candidate to be confident as soon as he/she crosses the threshold of the interview room. Being an HR manager, it is crucial that you analyze the body language of the candidate and take a look at the way they walk and talk. Not being able to look in the eye while talking is one of the signs that your candidate isn't confident enough to be hired for any job role.
To sum it all up,
Apart from the red flags that are mentioned above, make sure that you also take a close look at the candidate's online presence. Believe it or not, it will definitely tell you more about the candidate's character and personality than anything else.
Make sure that you don't wait until the last minute to watch out for the red flags, as it can be a huge drawback for your organization. Take a deeper look at those alarming bells, and you won't ever offer the job to someone who isn't worth it.