Hiring Mistakes to Avoid in the Tech Industry

The tech sector has no shortage of top-notch talent, but the industry’s fast-paced, pioneering nature makes hiring mistakes all too common.

Here, we’re outlining the 18 most common hiring mistakes in the tech field that can lead to selecting the wrong person.

1. Lack of Clarity — Poorly Written Job Description

It’s all too easy to rush through a job description and end up excluding vital pieces of information.

By all means, slow down.

Spend time crafting the job description and consider things like: what qualities and skills do you need in your ideal hire?

What other departments will they be collaborating with?

What soft skills, such as problem-solving abilities or quick adaptability to change, are you looking for that lend themselves well to the position and projects?

What skills are missing from the team that you’d like to introduce?

What are your goals, and what attributes will help you achieve them?

Have other hiring team members read over the job description and give you feedback.

2. One-Dimensional Tech Assessments

Relying too heavily on algorithm problems during the tech assessment doesn’t give the full picture of the candidate’s capabilities.

Often, tech companies have candidates take general proficiency tests that have little correlation to what the job actually entails. Be sure to clarify the skills that you’re looking for, and then find an assessment that tests for them.

Even if it means you have to create it yourself.

In a nutshell, ensure the skills assessments you make are role-specific; don’t assess for proficiency in areas outside the scope of the position.

3. Unnecessary Time Constraints

Don’t apply unrealistic time constraints during the testing portion of the job interview. Imposing a time limit that isn’t present in a real-life work scenario creates artificial pressure. This can add unnecessary stress to competent individuals, who may score lower as a result.

Do your best to verify that the assessments accurately reflect the work conditions, or come as close to reflecting them as possible.

Each prospect should be graded on accuracy and creativity. Whenever possible, try to build assessments that provide insight into each candidate’s thought processes and rationale as they work through the material.

You could construct assessments based on challenges the team faced in the past. Plenty of online software programs let you pick and choose what coding skills or other tech knowledge you’d like to assess.

4. Using the Same Old Recruitment Methods

Using the same resources repeatedly to advertise job postings isn’t just lazy; it also prevents you from accessing the full scope of the talent pool.

Qualified job seekers are everywhere. The more proactive you are in reaching them, the more likely those qualified candidates are to see your job ads and apply.

Go beyond LinkedIn and the other popular social media sites you always use.

Use Obisidi®’s job board that caters specifically to folks in the tech industry.

Our membership is closing in on 100,000 active and engaged diverse professionals in tech.

Tech companies that value access to better hires and understand the relationship between diverse teams and innovation choose to partner with us. As a partner, you’ll be able to platform your organization and engage with our members. You’ll get to share job vacancies, host Tech Talks, and more.

5. Hiring for Culture Fit (Instead of Culture Add)

There’s the stereotypical techie: think Zuckerberg or some other semi-socially awkward white male in their late 20s.

Unfortunately, that stereotype exists because there is a huge amount of misrepresentation. According to an article in Forbes, women make up a mere 25% of the tech industry, and Black people make up 8% of the tech workforce.

For decades, the practice was to hire people based on culture fit. This is problematic in all sorts of ways.

First, emphasizing culture fit often leads to discrimination, as unconscious bias nudges hiring teams toward selecting candidates who remind them of themselves.

Second, it strangles innovation. The more diverse a team is, the more creative they are — and the better they are at solving complex problems and coming up with solutions. Each team member contributes their particular strength, and together, you have a force to contend with.

When making hiring decisions based on culture add, take some time to clarify what you’re looking for.

The hiring decisions made should be based on:

• Enhancing and strengthening existing teams
• Boosting innovation
• Creating a well-rounded group instead of a flat, one-dimensional one

6. Putting Undue Emphasis on Education

Overvaluing certain educational backgrounds may lead to disappointment. Favoring a candidate simply because of where (or if) they obtained their college degree is foolish.

The focus should be on ensuring each candidate is qualified in all the ways you actually need them to be.

Someone who is self-taught may be just as (if not more) motivated and skilled than someone privileged enough to attend an elite university.

Each candidate should be evaluated on:

• What they know
• What they can do
• How they can enhance the team

7. Ageism

The tech industry is notoriously young. Often, the assumption is that young people are way more tech-savvy than older folks.

Yet, hiring only young people leads to missing out on valuable insight and experience.

It’s important to check your unconscious bias and eradicate anything that could be construed as ageism. Again, when you prioritize hiring for culture add, it is easier to understand the value that more experienced team members provide to every organization.

From historical knowledge of the industry to experience with various processes and workflows, having a diverse team means you hire qualified people of all ages.

8. Poorly Structured Interviews

A lot of tech companies embrace the more casual side of work culture. While this isn’t always a bad thing, it’s not a good idea to be loosey-goosey and fly by the seat of your pants during the hiring process.

Hiring practices that yield the best candidates are well-orchestrated, pre-planned efforts.

To avoid landing a bad hire and wasting everyone’s time, be prepared.

The interview process should be structured. Hiring managers should have a clear idea of the skills they’re looking for in an employee and be ready with a list of predetermined interview questions to ask each candidate.

9. Wishy-Washy Communication

Long gaps of radio silence during the hiring process are unprofessional and often result in losing the applicant you were hoping for to another, more efficient company.

Top-talent individuals are a hot commodity and, as such, usually have many options. Therefore, it’s important to let the candidate know what each step of the hiring process looks like, and stay in constant communication.

10. Outlandish Job Requirements

Make sure you’re not making any impossible requests in your job post. For example, don’t require decades of experience with a technology that’s only been on the market for a handful of years.

As well, requesting that a candidate be proficient in multiple areas (many of which can easily be trained or are not critical aspects of the role) means you’ll lose out on many viable recruits.

You don’t want to discourage a highly capable applicant from applying simply because they don’t have the skills to match all the requests.

Be realistic. Ask for what you need without trying to paint a portrait of a unicorn employee.

Additionally, if there are some skills that can be taught or aren’t crucial, have a little leniency if the candidate is otherwise a strong contender.

11. Not Following Up with Reference Checks