As a Recruiter, What Grind My Gears? Part 2 (Hiring Managers Edition)

As a recruiter, I continue to be amazed, and I have talked about potential candidates,,, and now its time to get one step higher, Hiring Managers, I hope a lot of the hiring managers read this.

Below you will find a list of behaviors that tend to really hit my nerves:

 

•  Before the Interview:

• Verbal Requests:

In almost all the companies I have worked for, this came to me from a hiring manager!!! Hiring Managers, there are correct channels to go through, please use them so that I can help you accordingly.

• Giving me CVs:

I believe this issue is the biggest among recruiters, just so that you know, if you are a hiring manager and doing this to your recruitment department, you are offending them all, it means that I as a recruiter can’t do my job properly, there is a process set in place for a lot of reasons, I always have people who I have interviewed before that were not suitable for a position then and are suited for this position now.

Please as a hiring manager, I cannot emphasis this more,,, do NOT give me CVs unless I ask you.

• Date & Time:

I understand that you have a busy schedule, but please understand that I might have a busy schedule too. You are not the only hiring manager I am dealing with.

• Location of the Interview:

There is a reason why we prefer to have it away from your office, that is to avoid disturbance, candidates are always taught to silence there cell phone, so, you should also do the same with your office phone and emails.

• Contacting the Candidates Without my Knowledge:

It is unprofessional and disrespectful to me when a hiring manager does that. You can ask me and I will either get you the information or give you the green light to contact him, but when I contact the candidates and he tells me that you have contacted him earlier it makes our company look disorganized.

• During the Interview:

• Taking the Lead:

You are the Hiring manager, but the recruitment process is the responsibility of HR, taking the lead in this is disrespectful, we will give you all the time you need with candidate, so please, let me do me and you do you.

• Asking HR related Questions:

Depending on the strength of your recruitment department, there is supposed to be an initial interview conducted, and you might have a copy of it, in it you will find all the basic HR questions, such as availability to join, current status, …etc. And if it isn’t there, or you didn’t receive a copy, let HR handle it. So please focus on the technical side of the candidate and leave the rest for me.

• Answering your Cellphone:

You are supposed to clear the time to finish the interviews, and it is understandable to answer the absolute emergency calls, but answering your cellphone knowingly to a call that was not is disrespectful to me and the candidate.

• Asking Offensive Questions:

This scenario happened with my colleague, the hiring manager asked a covered female candidate if she was willing to uncover her face during the working hours!!!!! The hiring manager is not an expat that doesn’t know our traditions,,, he was a SAUDI!!!!! If that was happening in an interview I was conducting, I would have shut the interview down and reported that hiring manager! Please avoid offending people in that manner.

And for expats, please understand the culture before attending interviews.

• After the Interview:

• Discrimination:

Similar to during the interview, It goes on the top of my list, remarks that are discriminating against an individual is just disgusting, EVEN if it was a joke and the candidate left.

• Rushing Me:

Even if the candidate said that he/she needed 30 days to join, in reality it could be longer, due to a number of things, so please, have some patience.

•  Rejection or Selection Basis:

Please follow the a valid basis when it comes to your desicion. Hiring managers usually use this when they are not granted the candidate they supplied, so they tend to judge the recruiter’s candidates to the extremist level, and when the recruiter finally brings “the one” the hiring manager dramatically downgrades the interview and basis. We see this and we know that it happens.

The list is far from over,,, and I will be adding to it,,, if you are a recruiter and have something to add,,, please do.