Recruitment still based on “gut feel”

More than a quarter of employers say gut feeling is their main reason for hiring someone, a survey has found and only 23% out of more than 1,000 managers who have accountability for recruitment said that relevant experience was their main reason for taking somebody on board, while another 23% felt that strong interview performance was the deciding factor. Only 8% said that good qualifications was their main driver for hiring somebody.

Unconscious bias can lead to the wrong candidate being taken on and the loss of the “perfect” candidate.

Having a clear and consistent recruitment process in place is crucial when recruiting, and is something that ensures all candidates are treated equally, even when they are interviewed by different managers.

84% of job applicants have had a negative experience during interviewing, with the main reasons being that interviewers were unprepared and that there was a lack of structure to the interview. Apparently many employers develop their gut feeling about a candidate before they even got through the door of the interview room, with almost three-quarters using social media to research a candidate in advance.