When Should You Hold out for a Better Candidate?
Finding the right person for the job is hard work, but sometimes it feels downright impossible. If you’ve been searching for someone to fill an open position on your team for a while now, you might be starting to think your criteria is a bit too stringent. This could be the case, but hiring decisions made in haste don’t always end well.
If you needed to hire a new team member yesterday, you’re likely feeling a great deal of pressure to just choose someone already. Productivity and morale are probably both taking a hit, which is impacting your bottom line. However, if any of the following can be used to describe the candidate you’re thinking about hiring, keep on looking.
Lack of Pertinent Skills
Oftentimes, the perfect candidate doesn’t exist. The best person for the job might not have every desired skill, and that’s okay.
Having to train a new employee on a few abilities is one thing, but if the person requires extensive guidance to do the bulk of their job, hiring them probably isn’t the best decision. You shouldn’t have to spend an inordinate amount of time and money getting a new hire to the point where they can do their job independently.
Poor Cultural Fit
A candidate might have the best resume, but hiring them is a terrible idea if they’re not a match for your culture. They probably won’t stay onboard very long, so you’ll be right back where you started in no time at all.
Even if they do stick it out for a bit, their presence will cause a myriad of issues that could impact your entire team. This might include decreased quality of work, increased turnover and a largely unpleasant work environment.
Shady Work History
When you’re eager to hire, it’s easy to overlook red flags that would ordinarily cause you to steer clear of a candidate. Issues like unexplained gaps in their work history, a lack of credible references and notable job hopping shouldn’t be taken lightly. In some cases, the person might have a valid explanation for one or two concerns, but a pattern should be telling.
Bad Feeling in Your Gut
Sometimes you can’t put your finger on an exact reason something seems wrong, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the feeling. If anything about a candidate makes you feel uneasy, there’s probably a good reason for it. You’ll regret not following your instincts later if hiring the person turns out to be a mistake. Following your gut is just as good of a reason as anything else to decide against a candidate.
If your hiring needs are urgent, but you haven’t found the right fit, consider taking on temporary talent to assist in the interim. This will give you time to choose the best person for the job, without any negative impacts to your business. To learn more about how we can help you find top behavioral health talent, contact us today at (513) 651-9500 or by email at [email protected].