We all have our opinions and beliefs about how things work, based on our experience and education. But often, these beliefs are not quite accurate. They are based on limited evidence, intuition, or colored by emotional bias.

The same is true in business, where managers sometimes have mistaken beliefs about their company. It happens to even the most experienced and knowledgeable, especially when it comes to things that are not in their area of expertise, such as recruiting. So, from time to time, it becomes necessary to take a closer look at what is generally believed, but what may also be wrong.

Some recruiting myths have developed among managers, myths that need to be dispelled to improve the recruiting practice.

Managers often believe they are working at the best, most well managed company there is, and that this is enough to attract the best candidates when they find out about the company. But this is not the case. Even the best companies need to advertise and promote themselves to candidates out in the job market. It is up to HR to explain this to managers.

Another myth is that the best candidates will apply online, that the magnetic attraction of the internet will somehow magically attract the best candidates. Again, not true. It may often take aggressive recruiting efforts to ferret out the best candidates, sometimes even the services of recruiting firms that specialize in certain areas.

Another myth among managers is that there really is no need to prepare for an interview – they are already experts in their field, they know what they want, and what they need to find out. But this leads to managers coming to interviews without doing their homework, with no prepared questions, or specific competencies established. As a result, they don’t get as much as they could out of the interview.

Another myth among managers is that candidates will be willing to wait any amount of time for a particular job. But this is a thorough misreading of the competition that is out there for good people, as well as the patience of the candidates. Managers cannot continually ask to meet with more people on an open-ended basis. They need to define a timeline. Another thing that human resources needs to impress upon them.

And managers also believe, wrongly, that no matter how long they may take in the recruiting process, it will have no effect on the company’s image. Again, a belief the human resources department needs to disabuse them of. A poorly run recruiting effort can have implications on the job market, as candidates talk to each other about the poor experience they had with the company. It becomes even more of a problem in the age of social media, as candidates can reach an even bigger audience with their complaints.

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