As an HR pro or a hiring manager, the last thing you want to do is make a bad hire. Hiring mistakes can cost the company money, cause compliance issues, create dissatisfied customers, and bring down employee morale, increasing turnover.

Fortunately, learning to recognize a candidate's potential red flags can reduce the chances of a bad hire.

Table of Contents

1. What Is a Candidate Red Flag?
2. Look Out for Red Flags Throughout the Hiring Process
3. 7 Candidate Red Flags to Monitor
4. How to Identify Candidate Red Flags
5. Being Aware While Following Fair Hiring Practices

What Is a Candidate Red Flag?

Think of a red flag as a bright warning sign informing you that there could be an issue. A red flag doesn’t mean you should stop considering a candidate, but it does mean you should do more due diligence.

Background checks are good at revealing red flags. It could be a criminal conviction, inconsistent personal information, an issue with their employment history or education, or any sign that the applicant may not be a good fit.

Red flags can also differ between industries as well as between roles. Let’s say you’re hiring for an accounting position or any position in the financial services industry. Even minor issues on a financial background check could be cause for concern.

By identifying red flags like these, you can gain more information and context. Ultimately, this will help you make a more informed decision about whether to hire the person or not.

Look Out for Red Flags Throughout the Hiring Process

Candidate red flags can crop up anytime during the application process. They’re often revealed in the background check. But sometimes the background check will be perfect, while at the job interview, red flags may arise.

Everyone involved in your hiring process must know how to recognize red flags and address them the same way with every candidate. Here are just a few reasons to do so.

Reduce Employee Turnover

Hiring new employees is expensive. If you bring someone aboard who leaves or is terminated shortly after starting, the company has lost its investment in that hire.

Also, too much turnover can demoralize the employees who stay. They start doubting the company’s stability and decision-making. You want to make solid hires that contribute to the team’s morale and productivity for a long time.

Build a Reliable Workforce

Great qualifications don’t mean anything if the person isn’t reliable. You need people who show up on time and ready to work. If you hire someone unreliable, it could hinder your company’s performance.

For example, an applicant may have been terminated from a previous job after missing work repeatedly without notice. If they were to repeat this behavior in your organization, it would put more work on other employees and disrupt your ability to serve customers.

Save on Labor & Hiring Costs

Hiring is expensive. You invest a lot of money into recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding people, so you want those people to stay.

Job-hopping is one potential red flag to look out for. If you get an applicant who has switched jobs a lot, you need to ask why. It could be perfectly legitimate, like the opportunity to make more money, or it could be a sign that this person has trouble fitting into a work culture. Either way, you want assurance that the candidate will stay with you for a while.

Avoid Legal Penalties & Maintain Compliance

While it may not happen often, there are situations where an unqualified or unreliable employee can incur legal penalties for the company. For example, financial companies have stringent laws and practices that must be followed. If they don’t, the company can incur legal fees — possibly a lot of them.

Addressing candidate red flags can help reduce the chances you’ll hire the type of person who may put your company in this situation.

Monitor Liability

Bad hires can expose a company to liability in various ways. For example, imagine you’ve just hired a truck driver. A week later, he gets into a wreck on the job that injures someone else. It turns out the truck driver was intoxicated, and your background check missed a history of DUIs and substance abuse. Now, your company is on the hook for legal fees, higher insurance costs, and other damages.

It doesn’t mean everyone with a DUI should never be hired. But if you’re hiring for a driving job, knowing about that DUI is important.

Uphold Your Company's Reputation

Hiring the wrong people can damage your organization’s reputation among the public, your customers, and your potential employees.

Let’s say a financial services company hires someone with a history of committing fraud, and that person goes on to steal money from clients. The entire company’s reputation can be harmed. Fewer people will trust the company with their money, possibly leading to a great deal of lost revenue.

7 Candidate Red Flags to Monitor

Now that we’ve covered why it’s important to know about red flags, let’s highlight common flags to watch out for.

1. Inconsistent Information on Their Application & Resume

While it’s common for people to mildly exaggerate their past job duties, be on the lookout for things that could be outright falsified. If a candidate said they worked at Company X, but you can’t verify it, that’s a potential red flag.

Similarly, if a job requires a specific degree or certification, but there’s no verifiable evidence that the applicant has the required education, that’s a red flag. Again, it doesn’t mean you should automatically disqualify the person, but it does mean you should look deeper.

2. Inability to Explain Specific Aspects of Past Responsibilities

Generally, when people are immersed in a task, they can recall specific details about it. In an interview, if a candidate is vague or evasive when asked about past experience, it could be a red flag. It could mean they didn’t pay attention at work, weren’t actively engaged, or didn’t do the work they claim to have done.

3. Giving Exaggerated, Contradicting, or Dishonest Interview Answers

While a little embellishment in an interview is to be expected, anything more can be a sign of someone who lacks integrity.

Listen carefully in the interview. Ask the same question several ways and see if the answers are consistent. Ask questions about all the experiences listed on their resume and see if their verbal answers match what’s on paper. A candidate that contradicts themselves or outright lies may not be someone you want in your company.

4. Using Inappropriate or Unprofessional Language

Pay attention to how a candidate speaks, not only to you but to support staff and others they interact with. In an interview setting, they should be on their best behavior.

If they swear, tell inappropriate jokes, or speak arrogantly in an interview, you can only imagine how they might speak in a less formal setting. The last thing you want is to hire someone who offends customers or suppliers because of coarse or unprofessional language.

5. Misaligned Values

Chances are, your organization has some specific stated values that you try to live up to. They might include things like “doing the right thing for customers,” “putting people first,” and similar phrases. If you hire someone with different values, that misalignment could cause tension and ultimately lead to conflict.

When interviewing, ask candidates what’s important to them about their work and what they look for in a company. The goal is to prompt them to give insight into what motivates them beyond the paycheck.

6. Background Check Issues

Background checks are designed to unearth red flags so you can approach candidates with eyes wide open. You can try to do background checks yourself, but it can be very time-consuming and easy to make mistakes. That’s why most employers use a background check provider, such as Cisive.

A pre-employment screening might reveal a criminal conviction, an employment discrepancy, or a potential problem with an applicant’s identity. If an applicant “fails” the background check, you can decide how to handle it, including asking the candidate about the issue and giving them a chance to explain.

7. Refusing a Background Check

Companies need candidates’ permission to conduct background checks. Most candidates understand that and don’t hesitate to give the go-ahead. If a candidate refuses to allow a background check, you might consider that a major red flag.

If a candidate refuses, first explain why the check is needed. Let them know it’s a standard practice that helps the company protect itself and make sure a person is suitable for the role.

They might consent to the check after hearing the explanation, or they may ask further questions or provide you with more context for their hesitation. However, if they still refuse, that could be a cause for concern.

How to Identify Candidate Red Flags

Some red flags are so obvious that they’re almost impossible to miss. Others, though, are more subtle and could sneak by you. Here are ways to identify red flags:

Start a Good Conversation & Ask Good Questions

In an interview, try to help the candidate relax and be themselves. This way, it’s more likely that you’ll be able to see their real personality. If the candidate says something that doesn’t make sense or seems like it might be untrue, you can follow up. Try various ways of getting them to elaborate so you can judge whether they’re being honest or not.

Ask about the person’s goals and values to see if they align with yours. Ask specific questions about job and education history. Ask them to describe past employers and former teammates.

Check Their References

Most references are great at providing glowing reviews of applicants. But you can also use this time to confirm details about the candidate’s roles and job responsibilities. If there are any discrepancies, follow up with the applicant.

Use a Background Check Service

You can check a candidate’s background manually, but it requires contacting previous employers and schools yourself. You may not ever get a response. Plus, you still have to do a criminal background check.

Using a service like Cisive removes this burdensome work from your staff. Plus, checks done with our software are highly accurate, and the results are available in just a few days or even hours.

You can use our service for criminal background checks, ID verification, education verification, employment verification, and more, yielding a comprehensive result in which you can be confident. Plus, you can sign up for ongoing monitoring, which will alert you to any new red flags as they arise during employment.

Being Aware While Following Fair Hiring Practices

Remember, red flags are warning signs, not stop signs. They should heighten your awareness about a potential issue but not necessarily prevent you from hiring someone.

To remain compliant with all applicable laws, follow fair hiring best practices, such as having a background check policy in place. Read our Guide to Background Checks for more information.

Cisive is Here to Help You Find Candidate Red Flags

Improve your ability to spot candidate red flags in an applicant’s background by relying on Cisive’s screening tools. Our efficient, cost-effective screening solutions can give you confidence that you’re making the right hire. Talk to our experts about background checks today.