A time consuming hiring process is one of the crucial factors in losing employees and companies often have to bear the brunt in terms of unconverted costs. In today’s competitive world, the average length of an interview has increased dramatically. Adding to the plight is the challenge in finding a desirable and qualified candidate. With the rising options of choosing companies and the burgeoning expectations of candidates, the hiring process has become much more complex than what it used to be. Furthermore, involvement from top stakeholders has also increased making the recruitment process more challenging. With most companies losing top talent to competing job offers, it has become extremely important to make sure the hiring process is much faster in order to secure top talent.
The three key factors in a lengthy hiring process as explained by some of the top research firms according to the surveys carried out are more involvement of internal stakeholders followed by broadening candidate expectations and the difficulty in sourcing qualified candidates for the job profile. Other underlying factors for a time extensive hiring process are the increased interview rounds, number of applicants and so on.
There is a lot of manual work involved in the recruitment process; however with the large number of recruitment software packages and recruitment CRM software, a tremendous amount of manual work has been eradicated. This makes the job of a recruiter efficient and has a commendable turn-around time. These software packages mostly source desirable candidate profiles based on keyword search from paid databases and job portals based on your job search criteria. It then helps add their contacts in a secure database and also helps manage scheduling interviews with these candidates. It maintains a work flow manager that sends out automatic emails and updates for follow-ups etc. as and when needed.
Here are some quick tips according to expert studies that might help in making the hiring process more efficient.
Consider the budget first
Why many interview processes are monotonously long is because of the indecisiveness on the part of recruiters and internal stakeholders about what is the compensation package that is to be offered to the potential candidate. Often there is a lot of back and forth regarding the right remuneration restricting the recruiters to simply sign on the offer letter. An initial budget planning can make the process a bit faster by eliminating the need for going back to the internal stakeholder to buy an approval for the candidate’s remuneration.
Confirm the job profile
Often a candidate gets to know it is not the job profile he/she would be interested to go for while during half way in the interview. A recruiter needs to clearly demarcate the must have skills from those that could be developed through on the job (OJT) trainings. It screens out a lot of unqualified candidates whom you might not want to spend your valuable time.
Set a limit of the interview
By conducting multiple interview rounds at broad gaps in time frame, all you do is reduce the odds that the candidate would be still available to take up the job without offers from any competing business. Set a time frame and try best to adhere to it.
Often a few simple easy techniques could save a lot of time in the hiring process. Clearly outlining your requirements and budget carry the potential time saving effect and could save you a lot of time and money.