The 3 Biggest Hiring Mistakes Leaders Make

I remember a few years ago, when I was an Engineering Manager, I interviewed someone at Square, and this candidate had all the soft skills necessary to excel in the role, but he wasn’t familiar with our tech stack.

Not knowing the technology used by the big tech companies seems like a good enough reason not to hire someone, but 80% of the technology used today didn’t exist back then. In retrospect, not hiring them would have been the biggest mistake I made. It was pure luck that I realized that at the time.

Below I’ll explain some other big hiring mistakes, some that I narrowly avoided and some that I’ve personally made, so you can use this information to feel confident in the people you choose for your team.

Related: Why You Need to Fail Now So You Can Succeed Later

1. Don’t hire for talent over personality

“How familiar are you with JavaScript?” is one of the lowest-value questions you can ask in an interview. Don’t get me wrong, there is a place for technical screening during the hiring process. But as a leader, there are better uses of your time.

After all, I can teach Javascript to pretty much anyone, or at least anyone who is far enough along in the hiring process to interview me in person.

I can’t tell a candidate how to get along with me. Chemistry can be cultivated to a certain extent, but a lot of it is innate. You either have it or you don’t.

A much more effective way to utilise time in an interview is to ask questions that reveal the candidate’s personality. We’ve written a separate article about this here:

Related: I’ve interviewed thousands of candidates and the two questions I ask them all are:

2. Don’t believe lineage equates to worth

The fact that a candidate went to a prestigious school or works for a major company may be a hiring opportunity, but that alone won’t get you hired right away.

Not everyone who went to Harvard or Yale is a genius, not everyone who works at Microsoft is a visionary, and while an institution’s reputation may suggest something noteworthy about the people associated with it, it’s no guarantee.

In fact, many students who attend Ivy League universities I feel strangely embarrassed Because they want their work and personality to represent them. Having a famous person on your resume may mean that you’re an exceptional person, but it also means that you’re letting that famous person do the heavy lifting for you.

The same thinking can (and should) be applied to a candidate’s specific experience: While a candidate may have managed a large team in a previous job, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be able to do so at your company.

What you say in your resume will get you an interview, what you say during the interview will get you the job.

3. Don’t hire people to get used to the role

This can be a bit confusing because it seems to go against common sense: shouldn’t we put people in positions where their skills will improve over time?

Of course, that’s true, but your company culture and leadership style will help the right candidate grow even if they’re overqualified when they join the company, and hiring someone who can be perfect in their position from day one is much better than hiring someone who needs help.

Instead of hiring people who need to adapt to a role, hire people who can adapt to a role. If you are confident that your company will grow (and hopefully it will), the role must be adaptable to their skill set.

Let’s go back to the example we gave at the beginning of this article: the candidate who was new to Square’s tech stack. That candidate ended up thriving in the role, even though the technology required was now completely different. In other words, the role ended up adapting to the candidate’s soft skills and personality.

Related: Avoid costly hiring mistakes with these 5 top tips

How you hire candidates will determine the tone of your professional relationships

Many people see hiring someone as a simple yes or no question, but it’s much more than that. Hiring a candidate is your first interaction with a new employee, and how you do it will set the stage for the rest of your professional relationship with them.

Technical skills, strong references, and growth potential are all valuable qualities in a candidate, but a person’s character, track record, and exceptional abilities are clearer indicators of how successful they can be.

Remember, when you hire someone, it doesn’t mean you stop learning about them, it means you start. Here are a few more tips for building strong relationships with your team:

Related: Be a coach, not a judge – How to be a better mentor and manager from a coaching perspective