Shawnee Love   •  
October 3, 2012

Over the course of my previous 4 blogs:

1. Red Flags When Hiring
2. Red Flags in Resumes
3. Interview Red Flags
4. Red Flags When Reference Checking

I have shared 22 red flags.  My goal was to ensure you know what to look for so you can choose wisely.  Making the best possible choice when hiring sets the stage for the future employment relationship and finding someone who will be a good employee helps you be a better manager.

Realistically,  you might not care about a candidate’s problematic behaviour at another company if your job is structured differently.  For example, a poor team player might be a good hire if you want someone to work on his own.  One company’s bad fit can truly be another company’s star performer.

Additionally, these red flags can occasionally be indicators of problems that don’t really exist (because the referee was the one with the problem) or the candidate has changed (it can happen).

As such, heeding these red flags is a bit like reading the results of a pregnancy test.  Other than emotional upheaval, there is no harm to you if you get a false positive, but ignoring a positive can lead to a big surprise down the road.