Hire Faster, Hire Better: 4 Ways to Shorten Your Hiring Process

You need top talent and you need it now. But are you taking too long to recruit and hire the talent you’re after? According to a 2017 Glassdoor report, the hiring process takes an average of 24 days. That’s longer than most candidates are willing to wait. If you have a drawn-out, multi-stage recruitment process, you may be hurting your bottom line and losing quality hires.

Does Your Recruitment Process Take Too Long?

It’s time to shorten your hiring process if:

• Your first-choice candidates accept other offers before you make yours
• Candidates are hounding you for status updates
• You have trouble keeping track of where you are in the process or which candidates you’ve interviewed
• You abandon projects or miss deadlines because you lack a full team
• You consider dumping your current candidates/process and starting over

Reasons to Speed Up Your Hiring Process

Talent gets away. Qualified candidates are in high demand and don’t stay on the market long. Wait too long to approve your top applicant, and he or she may no longer be interested or available. Accelerated recruitment gives you an edge over employers with lengthier hiring processes.

You waste time and resources. A shorter hiring process means less time spent on research, recruitment, and screening. Also, you may be forced to outsource work or push back projects because of a vacancy, thereby increasing cost and sacrificing revenue.

It reflects poorly on your company’s reputation. Quick and positive recruitment experiences earn good marks for your organization, and landing top talent brings in other great minds. Satisfied hires will recruit on your behalf, while frustrated applicants will relay their displeasure to other job seekers.

How to Shorten the Hiring Process Without Sacrificing Quality

Asking candidates to go through multiple interviews, upload the same documents to multiple systems, or wait weeks or months to hear from you can make them feel unappreciated and undervalued.

Here are some ways to shorten your hiring process so you find—and land—the right candidate for the right job at the right time.

1. Know exactly who you need. A little more time spent clarifying the role and perfecting the job posting means a lot of time saved screening unqualified candidates.
2. Simplify the application process and make it mobile-friendly. Ask for a resume, LinkedIn profile, or online application—not all three! You’ll lose some candidates right from the start, plus you’ll review the same information three times.
3. Combine steps to save time. If you require an online skills or behavioral assessment, direct job applicants to the test when they submit their resume. Additionally, if you need work samples or a portfolio, request them up front.
4. Only screen top candidates. Employment agencies and hiring managers often phone screen every qualified applicant. This wastes a lot of time. And use screenings to ask relevant questions, not just to go over the resume you’ve already reviewed.

Need Help Finding Top Talent?

The Jobs Partnership is dedicated to helping participants in our LifeWorks training course become quality employees and leaders. For more information, please call us at 407-641-0755.