It’s bad enough when the candidate you’re interviewing brings negative energy into your company. It’s even worse if you decide to hire them. Prepare yourself to look for potential issues when talking with a candidate. Here are seven signs for spotting a bad worker before you hire them.
Candidate Won’t Discuss Future Plans: If a candidate can’t tell you where they see themselves in 5 to 10 years, they may not intend to stay with your company long term. Perhaps they simply need a paycheck until something better comes along. Without a clear vision of their future, you gain little insight into whether they’re right for the position.
Candidate Talks Exclusively About Himself/Herself: When you ask about their career aspirations, they should mention a successful person they admire. When you talk about how their previous experience got them to where they are, they should mention an influential colleague, manager or client. Mentioning nobody else could mean the candidate may complain about taking on extra work, monopolize the printer when a teammate is on deadline or cause other issues.
Candidate Takes Credit for Everything Good: If a candidate takes credit for all the good things that happen to them, be concerned. They may mention teammates and colleagues in their answers but take all the credit for achievements. Because long-term success requires collaboration, credit should be distributed among teammates. The candidate may steal ideas or take sole credit for a team accomplishment.
Candidate Won’t Discuss Shortcomings: If they won’t admit they ever do anything wrong in the workplace, they’re not being honest about their performance. They probably aren’t open to professional development and improving their work performance.
Candidate Behaves Unprofessionally: Arriving late with no phone call or apology, forgetting to submit requested information or not focusing on the interviewer throughout the discussion may be signs of nervousness. However, the habits may reappear during stressful job situations as well.
Candidate Makes Demands: They may say they can work a certain schedule or want paid parking, their cellphone covered and a specific number of vacation days. The candidate probably would become a high-maintenance employee with their best interests in mind, not the company’s.
Find Quality Hires
Pay attention to what candidates say and don’t say during interviews. The information they discuss provides insight into their true selves. If you don’t like what you hear, you won’t like working with them.
If we can be of assistance in your accounting and finance hiring, please reach out to us. We are here to help.