#RecruitingMistakes #LearningOpportunity #MistakesHappen
Hey everyone! So, I had a major slip-up today in my recruiting role and I’m feeling pretty terrible about it 😔.
– Have you ever made a mistake that made you cringe and feel like you let everyone down?
– I mistakenly scheduled an interview for 1pm but told the candidate to come at 11am.
– Needless to say, chaos ensued and I felt like I dropped the ball big time. 😬
I’ve apologized all around and owned up to it, but I can’t shake this feeling of embarrassment and unprofessionalism.
Would you be willing to share your recruiting mistake stories with me? I think hearing from others who have been there would really help me feel a bit better.
Also, do you have any tips on how to recover from a big mistake like this and prevent it from happening again? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance! 🙏🏼
I wouldn’t worry about it. Learn how to make a lot of placements and mistakes like these will seem trivial.
At least they turned up!
Don’t sweat it, you’re human 🙂
I’ve done this before; most recruiters have. Take a deep breath, over-apologizing doesn’t always help. I’d recommend owning your mistake but focusing more on a solution – is there anyone who’d be available at 11 for an ad-hoc interview, and/or could the candidate have lunch with one of the hiring managers while they wait for anyone else who may not be free until 1? You may be panicking inside but try to speak slowly and gracefully and see what can be done to think outside the box.
If rescheduling is needed, thank the candidate for their flexibility and thank the team for their understanding. Although the situation isn’t ideal, how the candidate reacts will reflect on their ability to handle unexpected and inconvenient events.
Learn from your mistake and double check going forward. Don’t beat yourself up, we’re all human!
Edit: sorry this is more advice and than my own mistakes….but I have fucked up time zones on more than one occasion! Usually I’ve just admitted my mistake and asked if the manager could accommodate.
It happens, but in my experience, it’s better to own it.
Especially towards the candidate, make sure that they are aware this mistake was yours and is not a reflection of how the company likes to do things.
Apologize once, and move on.
My biggest mistake
Based on the way we set up interviews, the recruiter had owner access to the call. The hiring manager could gain access because they had the same email domain, but the candidate couldn’t. and the manager didn’t have the ability to grant anyone else access.
This meant that the recruiter was supposed to jump onto the call for the first minute or so, to let the candidate into the call.
3 times I failed to do this, twice with the same candidate… (but they actually got the job eventually anyway)
Oh I’ve done the same thing before. Don’t sweat it.
I’ll share a story of my own: had a candidate that myself and the hiring manager felt really strongly about. Had moved to reference checks (candidate provided several references) and after speaking with one of them, the hiring manager asked me to get a call scheduled with the candidate to extend an offer. I reached out to the candidate to let them know, and they were excited. Before the call to make the offer took place, hiring manager had another reference check and in that call, the reference mentioned something that made the hiring manager change their mind about extending the offer – so I had to let the candidate know. The person FLIPPED out and was literally threatening to sue us. Nothing came of it, but I felt absolutely awful as it was happening.
Most of us have had schedule mix-ups like this happen at some point 🙂
A similar story: once I had a candidate interview with a client company who had a large campus with lots of buildings. I told him to go to the wrong building by mistake! He waited for quite some time before figuring it out, and then had to trek across campus in the heat and in a suit to get to the proper building. He showed up to the interview sweaty and late. I felt terrible and made sure the client company knew that was 100% my fault. It’s still a small error in the grand scheme of things but I remember being absolutely mortified. The candidate was so understanding and kind–most people are. Hopefully your candidate was as well.
I have done this before! I wouldn’t even consider that a big mistake at all.
Some mistakes that have happened on my team in just the past week:
– a manager realizing they are overstaffed and all pending offers had to be cancelled
– an offer went out with no follow up- like no offer letter or onboarding info sent at all. Now the start date has to be pushed back!
– multiple jobs posted with incorrect qualifications and location. all need to be reposted!
Mistakes happen. I would focus more on developing the confidence to know you can handle mistakes rather than living in fear or making one. The most valuable employees still make mistakes 🙂
One time, I checked the schedule before I went to bed and saw nothing for morning. So I start my work day next morning and check Calendar and was shocked to see two interviews an hour before I actually logged in.
I didn’t understand how that could happen because we don’t have last minute schedule availability. It took a few minutes before I realized I Checked my calendar at midnight. So instead of looking at same day schedule I looked at next day schedule without realizing time was past midgnight.
Emailed manager, email candidates, apologized 😭
One time I wrote down interview summary and instead of saving it on the ATS , I drafted an email and sent it to the candidate 🫠
I’ve confused time zones. I’m in one zone, the manager in another and the candidate in a third. I tired making it easy for everyone by making it their local time but fucked it all up. Now I just say what the manager is at and let them figure it out.
We’ve all been there! I once scheduled an interview but forgot to inform the candidate, so they never showed up. Don’t worry, you’ll bounce back from this!
* Own it right up front.
* Apologize to the candidate and everyone else you have contact with regarding this role.
* Move on to the next role.
My biggest mistake was when I checked the reference for an executive candidate who asked me not to check the references up front.
I called the cell phones of high ranking officials in places like AT&T, DELL, and some Energy Company. They all called the candidate upset that I called them.
I had to wear that one.
Always own your mistakes. You are measured not by what happens to you, but how you handle it.
Also, sit with this feeling you have about your mistake. Now transmute that in the future when someone else makes a mistake. How will you care and support them?
Here’s one for you, had a candidate on his way to sign an offer letter at the client, probably 45 minutes one way for the poor guy. Client calls when he’s 10 minutes away to rescind the offer… turns out they didn’t actually want to hire him, and never told us.