This has got to be the biggest hiring fallacy I've ever heard. "It's better to reject a good candidate than hire a bad candidate."
That's completely false, and anyone who says that is completely ignorant of Bayesian logic.
Here are some simple numbers.
Suppose that a "good" candidate is a 1-in-100 find. Suppose that a "bad" candidate has a 1% chance of tricking you into hiring them anyway.
Every time you pass on a "good" candidate, that is greater opportunity for a "bad" candidate to trick you into hiring them!
Counterintuitively, if you pass on too many of the "good" candidates, in your overzealousness to reject bad candidates, you're actually INCREASING THE ODDS OF A BAD HIRE.
This is management porn. "It's better to reject a good candidate than hire a bad candidate." It makes the manager feel good. "Wow! That candidate seemed smart, but I rejected him anyway! I'm such a great leader! I make the tough decisions!"
tl;dr summary
Because "good" candidates are rare, every time you pass on a good candidate that increases your odds of making a bad hire! This is simple Bayesian reasoning!
That's completely false, and anyone who says that is completely ignorant of Bayesian logic.
Here are some simple numbers.
Suppose that a "good" candidate is a 1-in-100 find. Suppose that a "bad" candidate has a 1% chance of tricking you into hiring them anyway.
Every time you pass on a "good" candidate, that is greater opportunity for a "bad" candidate to trick you into hiring them!
Counterintuitively, if you pass on too many of the "good" candidates, in your overzealousness to reject bad candidates, you're actually INCREASING THE ODDS OF A BAD HIRE.
This is management porn. "It's better to reject a good candidate than hire a bad candidate." It makes the manager feel good. "Wow! That candidate seemed smart, but I rejected him anyway! I'm such a great leader! I make the tough decisions!"
tl;dr summary
Because "good" candidates are rare, every time you pass on a good candidate that increases your odds of making a bad hire! This is simple Bayesian reasoning!