Mistakes, I've made a few....just like the old Sinatra song, we can all lay claim to some past bungles. Hiring mistakes, though, can be costly and they affect more than just you. Bad hires for full time work can cost as much as $20K to fix, not to mention disrupting morale for your entire team and delaying your business goals. In my survey of common hiring mistakes, three popped up most often.

3rd Most Common Hiring Mistake: Haphazard Vetting of Candidates

Failing to verify credentials, degrees, or outsized claims to greatness on a candidate's resume trips up new employers all the time. Maybe all or most of it is true (the easily verifiable parts like work history), but how good is that business school you've never heard of, and did they actually earn the degree? Too often, even what looks like solid gold turns out to be gold plated.

Graphite candidates come pre-vetted. Our highly selective process is managed by professionals who come from the same business world as the candidates themselves, so they know what to look for:

• What kind of experience really counts
• What business degrees and schools are most respected in the industry
• Which past employers are considered top tier investment banks or consulting firms

2nd Most Common Hiring Mistake: A Poor Job Description

If your description of the job and desired qualifications is vague or too general, you're casting too wide a net and you'll waste time sifting through candidates who may only loosely fit the brief. The more specific you are about what you want, the faster the reward once you post your job. A little more time and consideration up front will pay off in quick efficiency once it's time to review candidates. This applies whether you're seeking a candidate for a full-time job, or a temporary contractor.

Here's how we handle that problem at Graphite, to ensure you scope a job description that attracts only candidates you want to hear from:

• Guidance on professional hiring protocols and best practices
• Quick-read success stories from your industry - who they hired, what was accomplished, and what it cost
• Sample consulting agreements, NDAs and more in Resources.

This last one is less about a costly error and more about missed opportunity. And how laziness and complacency can mean the difference between a mediocre outcome, and a great one.

#1 Most Common Hiring Mistake: Relying on Job Ads

If you post to a job board and then just sit back and wait for people to come to you, you're missing out on a huge number of potential candidates who could be perfect for the role. Your ideal person may not be looking for a job at the time, so passive candidates should never be ruled out and may actually be more valuable to you than active job seekers.

Graphite's client dashboard lets you be proactive with your candidate searches. Advanced filters help you search our database of more than 2500 fully vetted, top tier professionals for candidates with the right experience level and industry background.

Posting a job on Graphite is always free, so if you've got a need for great financial or marketing talent right now, why not check out our best of the best?