What’s the biggest mistake you can make when recruiting someone to fill your job vacancy? No, it’s not ‘turning up late to interview your candidates’ or ‘forgetting to put the job title on the advertisement’. In fact, it’s rushing the recruitment process.

It’s understandable that when you’re trying to fill a role, you want it filled quickly. It’s understandable that you need a member of staff, and don’t feel that you’ve got weeks or months to wait. Despite all of this, the best way to get the most suitable member of staff and the best value for your money is to take your time.

Don’t tell your recruitment agency that you need them to fill your vacancy within a week, or that you’ll pay them a bonus if they can find someone suitable by the time you leave the office on Friday. Oh, and never accept someone less than perfect because you ‘don’t have time’ to look for someone else.

Employees are like fast food…

Imagine that you’re standing in line at your favorite fast food restaurant. You reach the front, and you order a burger. You’re hungry, and so you tell them to hurry with the preparation. You quickly get your burger, but it’s only partially cooked and it has the potential to make you ill. If you’d been prepared to wait a little longer, you could have had a burger that was cooked to perfection.

Employees can be the same. You might be lucky enough to find the perfect candidate in just a few days, but you might instead get that ‘half-cooked’ burger. It might satisfy your immediate hunger, but it’s going to lead to problems down the line. Spend a little more time finding the right person to fill your job vacancy, using a few creative recruitment techniques, and you’re far more likely to find an employee that’s suitable for the long haul.

Be prepared to trial and test…

Now, imagine that you’re working in a marketing recruitment role. Specifically, you’re looking for an impressive graphic designer. A candidate’s CV boasts that they can ‘draw any celebrity with lifelike detail in just 20 seconds’. Do you take their word for it?

When someone’s trying to get a job, they might be prepared to stretch the truth. The easiest way to find out is to test their claim. Ask them to draw Oprah Winfrey, and see what they come up with. Don’t stop there, because there’s a very real chance that you’ve picked the one celebrity that they’re able to draw. Test them with Steven Spielberg, Will Smith and David Beckham. Once they’ve successfully passed a few of your tests, you can begin to feel confident that they made an honest claim.

Testing your applicant doesn’t just help you to validate the claims that they made on their CV and during their interview – it also helps to see if they’re a good fit for your company. A trial period is a great way to see how someone fits into your team, without committing to employing them long-term.

If at first you don’t succeed…

If you’ve got a stack of 100 CVs, and none of your applicants seem 100% suitable, then remember that you don’t have to settle. Thank those applicants for their time, and start the process again.  You need to be happy that you’ve got the right person for the job…can you safely say that you weren’t one CV from someone even better?

How long do you spend on the recruitment process? Have you ever rushed? What are your recruitment tips? Share your thoughts in a comment.