Hi mum,
My daughter’s been teaching me about Freud, as part of her criminology studies.
So of course my brain meandered into recruitment.
I’m sure you’re aware of the concept of the Freudian slip - it’s the notion that an unintentional statement reveals a hidden intent or desire. Mother complexes are a common one.
We see it all the time in recruitment, when job seekers write on LinkedIn that when a company doesn’t say what their compensation scheme is, then they are definitely lowballers.
Or that a 7 stage interview process is a sign of a company bloated by indecision.
The red flag is the slip that shows the truth, and are ‘why candidates should avoid those employers’.
Perhaps you’ve read those posts and disagreed vehemently because your company does those things with good reason.
Here’s a relatively brief point, for a change -
Whatever you do, why not explain why you do it?
If you have good reason not to state your salary, why not explain why?
Perhaps you can hire at different levels. Perhaps you have a flat structure that allows you negotiate individually with candidates.
If you do specific things in your interview process, why not flag these up clearly and explain why?
Perhaps you want an element of surprise, because your vacancy involves reacting to the unexpected.
In that case you might explain why your process involves an element of surprise.
And if your role doesn’t involve reacting to the unexpected, why have a surprise at all?
Of course there are many other red flags that are commonly talked about.
Yet most of these are an opportunity to do better, if you lean into it.
The problem is the opportunity.
Why not spend a bit of time reading what job seekers complain about - where might you find improvements in your own process?
Anyway, I love you and please do buy my recruitment services if you’re:
about to embark on a key hire in the UK
wondering where your UK recruitment is going wrong
need someone to do manage it for you, in the UK, and your red flags are unintended
Oops, I didn’t mean to say that.
Thanks for reading.
Greg