4 Startup Recruiter Mistakes You Dont Want to Repeat

4 Startup Recruiter Mistakes You Dont Want to Repeat You are a startup recruiter, the  recruitment and  selection guide is set and you are ready to tackle the applicants. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, you find yourself to have committed a few startup recruiter mistakes. Being a startup recruiter such as myself, it  brings along its own set of challenges such as resource constraints and lack of HRM training or expertise. Below  I share some of my own startup recruiter mistakes that I committed in  the selection process. Startup recruiter mistake #1:  Process unqualified applicants CV screening is still the  most popular assessment in the early stage selection process. To be fair, its subjective and not a great indicator of competency. The purpose is to screen out undesirables and those who dont meet the minimum criteria listed as requirements in the job description. Its useful  when you know what  to look for in a bad CV. I made this mistake when screening a candidate. He seemed to fit our talent profile and the  job description. The dates made sense in his CV, so I invited him to the next stage in the recruitment process which was a video interview. To add fuel to the flame, I also had the I need someone right now syndrome  as the position was a top priority to fill. At the end of the interview in the open QA, I was then made aware by  the candidate that he had not finished his degree. He was only one or two courses shy and asked if working hours can be flexible. I replied that we will  do our best, but it shouldnt be a problem. I should have said it was. Which brings me to startup recruiter mistake number two. Startup recruiter mistake #2:  Trying to please everyone Regardless of how nice and personable you are, you simply cant just hand out a  job to the first or every applicant that applies for the job. That would be poor business sense! Its important to  remember  to keep the needs of the  startup  the priority while  matching  candidates to the job.  My  time is scarce and valuable and it took me a while to really understand this. Giving personalised and valid feedback to each rejected candidate is a great way to boost  the employer brand and reputation. However, I  also needed to learn how to say no, and when to exit with good manners. I admit that my first few rejection calls were slightly excessive in both minutes and dialogue, but this was only because I wanted to give back and thank them for their invested effort in wanting to become part of the company. Today, I set aside a few minutes per candidate when giving them feedback and limit phone calls to under three minutes. Startup recruiter mistake #3:  Enthusiastic oversell As a recruiter, you are the face of the company. A brand ambassador. Your every word counts. You may not think about it,  but when an applicant is desperate for a job, they will take anything and everything you say. Very. Literally. In hindsight, I made the mistake of over selling the company and job position to an applicant that was highly educated, talented and probably wouldnt have even considered an offer within our proposed salary range. I felt the need to present the company as an  early stage Groupon  or other hot trending global startup to keep  her interested. I have observed that millennials are the most demanding of a realistic job preview and its a better  policy during the interview, to simply break down the job tasks into percent  of time candidates  would spend on task activities per week. Startup recruiter mistake #4:  Prejudice We all have personal preferences and an unconscious bias  towards candidates who are  similar to us  and this is where the best recruitment, selection, talent acquisition professionals excel. They can to some extent,  be able to remain objective and impartial when assessing a candidate to a specific job position. Being aware of prejudice is one thing, and knowing how to avoid discrimination is another. A few years back, when it came to issues of education, I would have been considered to be an elitist. I used to browse the university rankings and knew each countrys top universities and the best subject  specific programs. When I began  as a startup recruiter, that mentality still existed. The idea that students from premier  universities were  better than the rest. I doubted myself  whether to invite an applicant to a phone interview after seeing their university  degree. My view on a university of applied sciences was limited to ‘those who couldn’t get into a  â€˜real’ university’. Having done over a hundred startup interviews so far, I can report that I have observed  no significant differences in performance between vocational and traditional university candidates. In fact, those who come from vocational degree or other  alternative paths come across as more driven and passionate than candidates from premier universities, who more or less have expected to be rewarded, not based on their assessment scores, but on their branded degree. Takeaways In a startup environment, the vibe is more informal than a corporate office setting, so it may give you a false sense of comfort and ease. Stay sharp! However, as a startup recruiter,  remember that when you start the selection process, it is not the time to cut loose, become best friends and network extensively with each candidate, you are there to do a job which is  to facilitate your company  growth  by attracting, matching and employing the right talent to your startup. We all make mistakes, the important bit is that we learn from our mistakes and  avoid making them next time.