It’s what keeps the recruitment market – and our business – moving. And yet, a lot of organisations are still struggling to hire or attract the right talent.
Having worked in talent for over a decade, I see the same patterns emerge time and time again. Some of the most common things we observe, especially when businesses are navigating hiring without a talent partner:
- Job descriptions that don’t reflect reality
JDs should focus on the actual problems the role needs to solve and the core skills required – vs a long wishlist of “nice to haves”.
Otherwise, you risk strong (often more passive) candidates opting out because they don’t feel that they tick every box, even when they could absolutely do the job.
- Lack of clarity or planning in the hiring process
This is one of the biggest issues we see, and it tends to create problems much further down the line.
Often, there isn’t real alignment internally on what the process is meant to achieve, or how it should run in practice. How many stages are there? Who’s involved at each one? What is each interview or assessment designed to test? And importantly, what does “good” actually look like at each step?
Without that clarity, decisions become subjective rather than structured. Different stakeholders end up assessing different things. Feedback doesn’t align to the original brief. And that’s usually where things start to break down – processes drag, feedback becomes inconsistent or delayed, and candidates are left in the dark.
In a competitive market, that lack of clarity doesn’t just slow things down. It often means you lose strong candidates who simply move on to a process that feels more decisive and organised.
- Assessments that don’t add value
Tests and presentations shouldn’t be there for the sake of it, they should be directly linked to what the role actually requires.
Focus on what you genuinely need to assess, involve only the people who need to be there, and make sure every stage gives you meaningful insight. If you can’t articulate what you’re trying to learn from a particular stage, it probably doesn’t need to be there.
- Making assumptions from CVs
A CV rarely tells the full story. And just because it’s not the strongest CV you’ve seen, that doesn’t mean it’s a true reflection of the person behind it. Selling yourself on paper is genuinely very hard, and a lot of great candidates simply aren’t great at it.
The best hires often come from asking the right follow-up questions, not filtering people out too early based on a document alone.
- Not being ready to hire
This is a big one.
Hiring takes time, alignment, and coordination. If you can’t commit to a clear, structured process – and move with pace when it matters – it becomes very difficult to secure the best talent.
The strongest candidates won’t wait.
- Thinking it ends at the offer stage
Hiring doesn’t stop when someone accepts.
What does onboarding look like? What are the first few weeks designed to achieve?
How someone lands in a role often determines how successful they’ll be long-term – and those early days are crucial not only for enabling performance, but for emotional wellbeing and cultural alignment too.
Ultimately, hiring well isn’t just about finding people.
It’s about investing the time and thought to create a process that reflects who you are as a business, gives candidates a great experience, and actually allows you to assess what matters. When that’s in place, everything else becomes a lot easier.
Before you post the JD: a quick sense-check
Some of the common hiring problems could be avoidable. They just need catching earlier.
Run through this before you open the next role:
Alignment & clarity
- Do we genuinely agree internally on what “good” looks like, before we start?
- Have the right stakeholders been involved?
- Does the JD describe the problem to solve, not just a wishlist?
Process design
- Can we justify every stage by what it’s actually designed to assess?
- Is the hiring panel confirmed and briefed?
Candidate experience
- Is there a named owner for communication at every stage?
- Do we have clear timelines, and are we committed to keeping them?
The offer and beyond
- Is the onboarding plan in place before we make the offer?
If the answer to any of these is “not sure”, that’s worth pausing on. A little more preparation at the start makes everything that follows a lot easier.
If you’d like support thinking through your hiring process or finding the right talent, we’re always happy to talk.