If you’re currently hiring for your organization in the market right now, one of the things you may have noticed is that some of your competition is beating you to the punch when it comes to hiring a great candidate. Right now many of our clients and many of the companies in our network are losing out on talent simply because their interview process is taking too long. This seems like something so simple, but actually it’s a very major challenge for a lot of organizations. And it’s something that, if you are able to make a difference with, it can make a huge difference for you in hiring the right people.
SPEED MATTERS
In any situation, no matter what you’re doing, when something is highly competitive, speed is always the first place you wanna look. In the stock market, if a stock gets hot and starts to rise, the first ones in to get the stock at a low price make the most profit. In a NASCAR race, when the light turns green, the cars who get off the line faster have a higher chance of winning the race. If you really look, in almost any competitive event, speed plays some sort of major part, if not the major part, when it comes to who wins. So you want to make sure you’re applying this principle to your interview process. So the question is, what are some ways to speed up your hiring process? The key places where you want to start looking are the moment you have a candidate on your radar that seems like a true, viable fit for your position. You need to make sure you’re ready to move fast with that person and make a decision if they’re the right fit. Gone are the days where you move five plus people through your interview process and then get to whittle it down over several weeks to your top two, and then choose between your top two 45+ days later down the road. 90% of the time in this market, you’re not going to have that luxury. You need to be prepared to pull the trigger on a great candidate when they come across your radar.
DON’T MAKE COMPARISONS
So the first thing that we recommend is not getting stuck on the idea that you have to compare a good candidate to somebody else. In truth, there’s not really much benefit to comparing candidates. Has comparing a candidate to another candidate ever really shed light on which one is better? No. You always just like one more. At the end of the day, someone is a good fit for the position or not.
Now, I’m not saying that you should settle on somebody, but the point here is that if you find someone who’s a perfect fit for the role and a rockstar, then don’t wait! Move them through your process as fast as possible. So one key way here to speed up your hiring process is to not be attached to the idea that you need multiple candidates to compare with each other in order to make a decision. Trust yourself, you know what the role requires and what your company requires. Make the hire when you find the right person, whether you’re comparing them to other people or not.
INCLUDE YOUR TEAM IN THE PROCESS
Another key area is you wanna work with your team, anyone who’s involved in the hiring process, and make sure you have a streamlined interview process with clear steps and a clear mechanism for communication with candidates that is going to move things around quickly. In other words, don’t wing it when it comes to the different steps of your interview process, and don’t assume the others on your team are gonna take the same kind of actions and move with the same kind of speed that you do. Before you even begin talking to candidates, you need to have as much of a defined process as possible so that moving people through it is seamless. You could see some of our other blogs about how to construct this interview process.
USE DIFFERENT MEDIUMS FOR INTERVIEWING
Another way to increase the speed of your process is to use different mediums for interviewing. Take advantage of phone calls, video calls, video presentations, Skype meetings, and in person meetings. Figure out the right mix that’s good for your organization, but don’t let the fact that some people may not be able to meet a candidate in person. Again, your interview process needs to move quickly, so use technology to help yourself keep things on a quick pace. This will make a huge difference in keeping things sped up. In today’s hectic and chaotic workforce, sometimes it’s impossible to get your whole staff together to interview somebody. Don’t be attached to what that needs to look like. Be sure to find ways to get creative.
KEEP YOUR PROCESS FAIRLY SIMPLE
In terms of the interview process, we recommend keeping it simple. A phone interview is a good place to start because you can tell a lot about a candidate in a short amount of time without having to coordinate a lot. The second step should almost always be an in person interview or a video interview if schedules don’t align. When you get someone in for an in person interview, make sure to use the time wisely. Have them meet with as many people as possible and get as much of them as possible if you can.
Ideally, you’ll want to do only one more in person, if necessary. Oftentimes one in person is enough with maybe a phone call or a video meeting as a third interview. Try to not have your interview process go beyond three interviews. It’s typically not necessary unless the candidate wants more information or there’s a specific person that they need to speak to about something that may have been missed. Keeping your interview process simple and streamlined like this is gonna go a long way in speeding up your hiring process.
KEEP COMMUNICATION OPEN THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS
One important note is you wanna be checking in with a candidate throughout the process about other companies they may be interviewing with and other offers they may be receiving. Having this information is gonna be critical for you to be able to adapt your interview process, if needed, for a really hot candidate. You may need to move quicker, and being in communication with a candidate around this will also give you an edge in terms of that candidate not just accepting another offer. Oftentimes, if you’re in communication with them about this, they may get another offer and tell that company that they need to wait until they finish with your interview process. Many candidates won’t do this unless you’ve talked with them about it previously. So this is a critical way to not lose somebody while still speeding up your hiring process.
CONCLUSION
These are a few quick tips that, if you implement them, will help to speed your process up majorly, particularly being sure you get organized and give up any attachments that seem like they need to drag things on. Do everything you can to move as fast as possible with candidates in this competitive market. A day can make a difference from you hiring a rockstar, or not, and having them go to your competition instead.
Best of luck!
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