#Recruiters, let’s talk about those not-so-obvious candidate red flags 🚩
Hey fellow recruiters! 🌟 So, we all know about the obvious deal-breakers like ghosting or showing up late to an interview. But what about those little things candidates do that might give you the ‘ick’ without them even realizing it’s a red flag? 🤔
I’m curious to hear your thoughts! Here are a few things that have made me raise an eyebrow in the past:
– Lack of attention to detail in their resume or application
– Overly familiar or informal communication
– Not asking any questions during the interview
– Inconsistent or confusing information on their social media profiles
What are some red flags you’ve noticed in candidates that maybe aren’t as obvious? Let’s help each other out and share some insights! 😄
Remember, let’s keep the discussion positive and focused on how we can all improve in this competitive job market. We’re all in this together! 💪🏼 #RecruiterLife #CandidateRedFlags #JobSearchTips
I think both companies, recruiters and candidates do a poor job of communicating with each other. It creates a lot of problems. There needs to be an improvement in the recruitment process to set expectations. I have seen some start-ups doing this on their websites, which I really appreciate. I think both companies, recruiters and candidates should stick to a timeline for filling a position. If the position goes unfilled, the threat of closure forces the hiring team to make a decision. If they ultimately close the position, there should be a penalty for not filling it in a timely manner. Fake jobs should be federally punishable, in my opinion. I wish Congress would act on this.
Candidates should have a well written and concise resume. Recruiters personally review the pipeline of candidates. #Truth I am rejecting your word salad. Show me your accomplishments, ideally within the last ten years, in ONE page. Extra points for bolding keywords that are applicable to the job ad! I read cover letters. If you write me a cover letter, I will consider it in your application. I also call people, to have a real conversation. Please pick up your phone. I do not want to text endlessly.
Filling jobs is not rocket science. Due to a broken recruiting process, it’s taking too long. I sympathize with those that have submitted hundreds of applications. It is completely and utterly unacceptable. I can only have positive impact on my clients. I hope other recruiters put more pressure on their clients to stop this madness.
You switch your salary expectations at the finish line once I get you what you want or not giving salary target. I’m not trying to bait you. I don’t want to waste your time or the managers if I know I can’t get you a competitive offer. It ain’t my money, trust me im not trying to hoard it, but I am realistic. Ask me the range and I’ll tell you, but don’t be offended if I tell you a number of what I think I can get you . If you can get your worth elsewhere, rock on. Not everything is meant to be, but as much as you think I am trying to nickel and dime you, I promise im not.
Edit- corporate recruiter who is paid salary and not head hunter who gets paid per hire.
Pictures on your resume or unprofessional email addresses. Also emailing one question at a time. I get that you don’t have all your questions at once but six emails asking me the same thing is going to get you put on the back burner.
In house non profit healthcare recruiter.
Not sure how much candidates aren’t aware of this being an issue, but I see it often enough to wonder: having expectations that are completely unreasonable for that particular role/posting. Like asking double the posted rate of pay for a role (especially egregious as we’re usually between 25 and 50% higher than competitors in our area). Or trying to demand WFH or an alternate work location despite the posting having a clear 5 day/month in office hybrid schedule. Or the guy with 3 years of experience applying for an intermediate analyst role reporting to a manager who said that in 5 years he wanted to be an AVP (he had no particular specializations, education, or skills on his resume that would make that even remotely plausible).
Essentially, it’s the flip side to the hiring teams looking for a unicorn who will take bare minimum pay. If you clearly don’t have a sense of what the market is for the sort of role you’ve applied to or what someone with your background and skills can expect in terms of current opportunities and the moderate term future, it’s going to be off putting and, in some cases, offensive or concerning enough for an employer to completely blacklist you. My employer doesn’t do that except in extreme cases, but we use our HRIS system to exchange notes on candidates and those stay attached to profiles. It can be good (I know of at least a few people who were courted for an alternate role after being a close runner up) but you could also be the person whose candidate notes say “appeared to be using ChatGPT and could not answer questions with examples from their own work experience”.
Here’s a few:
1. A resume which is even a week outdated- if you got laid off, your resume should reflect this. I’ve had hiring managers reject candidates because they had themselves as currently in a role they left less than a month ago.
2. Constantly saying “we” rather than “I”- I’m not trying to hire “we”, I am trying to hire a person.
3. Too many job jumps that go nowhere- no progression in their career.
4. I am honest to a fault about how our roles pay, I will tell a candidate our hiring budget, bonus structure, etc- I expect in return to get a clear answer on what they want to make. Hemming and hawing on this is annoying.
5. Bringing up important issues when we are late in the hiring process- I do not want to be surprised by a unique set of circumstances when we’ve been through several interview rounds. If you need a special schedule, I want to talk about that in the first call.
6. Being hard to get ahold of, not getting back to me in a timely manner, etc- if you are looking for a job, look alive!
* Overtalkers, not shutting the fuckkkkk up. Not staying on topic, just droning on and on and on.
* Negative talk about the company they work for or the people they work for.
* Candidates that give one time and day when asking what their schedule is for a call with the hiring manager.
* Fine line here: Candidates that are overly needy, please re-read that. Overly needy. If you need to contact me two times a day to prepare for one interview, after I already gave you a PDF guide, this job is not the job for you.
* Candidates that dont listen: I told you this is not a remote role, verbatim, don’t ask me 3/4 the way through the interview process if we can change that policy, i told you basically to not even ask, its out of the question now you’re wasting my time and my Hiring Managers time, and now I don’t like you.
* Candidates that don’t prepare for an interview with a Hiring Manager, if you have not looked into their background on LinkedIn or use AI in this day and age to prepare for the interview, you’re just lazy and again, now you’re making me look bad and I don’t want you where I work.
* Candidates that lie, and trust me, some of y’all do and it really shows lol.
* Candidates that dont send the Hiring Manager a thank you email after the interview even though I always coach them to.
* Candidates that apply to jobs that are not even close to their experience, it makes me MEGA cringe, like I hope that was an accident.
Let’s not give recruiters a platform here shall we? They just LOVE to come here and lecture us as if they knew all the ins and outs of their corrupt practices.
Whatever any recruiter here says, it’s bullshit. They don’t want us to succeed or learn how to get past them, that would take their power away.
Had a guy come in for an interview/meeting with me. Had blue hair, mismatched shoes, and smelled. I was floored. But that’s why you meet folks and don’t go off a LI picture haha
When three recruiters from the same company call/email/text you within hours of each other.