The days of stretching out your interview-to-hire process longer than necessary are over. With the current unemployment rate in Minnesota at less than 2%, employers can’t afford to delay their hiring process and risk missing out on quality candidates.
As Director for HR Search at Versique, I’ve seen a few new strategies among the limited pool of available candidates in this current job market:
Most Candidates in this Market are Passive
A passive candidate means they are not actively looking for new opportunities. They may hear about open opportunities from a recruiter reaching out about a specific open opportunity.
A common situation I see is once a passive candidate becomes engaged with a recruiter or hiring manager on LinkedIn, they may begin to consider the possibility of an opportunity that may be a better fit for them. They become “active” in their search when they start to take the next steps of applying to a company and going through the interview process.
This usually turns into them talking to multiple companies or recruiters to see what their options are in the market.
Time is of the Essence
Once a candidate becomes active, they will start comparing and contrasting companies and their benefits, cultures, and teams before committing to a final decision. This part of the process for an active candidate—interacting with multiple companies at various stages in their hiring process—becomes very time sensitive.
This is one of the most crucial moments in the recruit-to-hire process. It’s important for a business to move the interview process along quickly if they want to remain competitive because the candidate may become distracted by another opening.
Here are three ways companies can make their interview process efficient to win an ideal candidate:
I have found that placing a simple “hold” on hiring manager’s calendars one to two weeks out can be very beneficial.
Everyone is running at lightning speed, and throwing a simple “hold” on someone’s calendar right away when you are in the first stages of contact with a candidate can help move the interview process along when the time comes to confirm an in-person interview with the candidate.
Lay out a timeline of when each round of interviews will take place, and stick to it! Setting your timeline as an interview team is crucial to not lose the candidate due to a slow-moving process. Be clear with the candidate on your timeline and ask if there are any deadlines you should be aware of on their end.
It is extremely important to make sure that your interview team is aligned on the roles and responsibilities you’re hiring for and what specific aspects of the role they are evaluating the candidate on prior to the interviews starting. This will reduce any confusion among the internal team.
For example, “interviewer A” may focus on cultural fit, while “interviewer B” may focus on skill fit, and “interviewer C” can focus on management or motivation fit. Meet as a team before the interview to discuss the details to avoid repetitive questions and taking up the valuable time of your interviewing team and your candidate.
As a trusted HR partner, it is my role to assist and represent companies throughout the interview process. Using a recruiting agency will eliminate the time required from the hiring manager and allow us to take the heavy lift of finding a quality candidate in this busy market.
Interview timeliness is key in the current market that we are in. If you have questions or hiring needs, please reach out to me or my team.
