Although your company likely has hired many excellent workers, all companies have experienced the disappointment of hiring a candidate who turns out to be a terrible employee. A bad hire can waste time, money and resources, so it can be helpful to know what to look for during the hiring process.
In an Inc. article, Dave Kerpen, CEO of Kerpen Ventures, shares the following red flags that can help you spot a potential bad hire.
- The candidate speaks negatively about a previous employer. Does the candidate describe every boss as “toxic” or every team as “dysfunctional”? This pattern indicates he or she could be the problem. Kerpen says: “People leave jobs for real reasons, and some companies are genuinely terrible. But a great hire can name what was hard, take ownership for their part and speak with grace about the people they left behind.”
- The candidate cannot tell you about a time he or she failed. Being able to admit your shortcomings is a sign of self-awareness and being a great team member. Kerpen says: “The best hires I’ve ever made told me about a launch that flopped, a hire that didn’t work out, a quarter where they missed quota by 40%. They named what they did wrong. They named what they’d do differently. They didn’t pretty it up. The willingness to be honest about a real failure is the single best predictor of someone’s ceiling.”
- The candidate is not curious about you, the company or the role. When an interviewee has no questions or only has questions about benefits and vacation, it is not a good sign. Kerpen says: “The hires I’ve been thrilled with came in with a list of eight to 10 sharp, curious, specific questions. About the customer. About the product roadmap. About my own management style. About what failure would look like in this role. Curiosity, more than any other trait, is the leading indicator of how high a person will rise.”
