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Hire authority
Don’t lose your candidate of choice because you’ve dragged out the hiring process. By Shawn Fier
Based on the employment market’s current state, it is extremely important for employers to approach the hiring process with a sense of urgency. Our economy is creating jobs rapidly, causing an increase in the demand for qualified candidates.
The employment market is heating up, and employers are competing for candidates representing the finest in their field of endeavor. If employers hesitate, they will lose.
To achieve success, employers need to act decisively. Dragging out the interviewing process by conducting too many interviews, allowing too much time to elapse between interviews or giving the candidate too much time to accept the offer of employment are all reasons employers will lose candidates, as well as valuable time and money.
In this market, three interviews over two to three weeks will not net the candidate of choice. Employers need to establish efficient hiring practices.
By streamlining the hiring process through efficient scheduling, establishing consensus among decision-makers and conducting solid interviews, employer can realize an advantage over their competitors in the employment market.
This is fast approaching the type of market where employers may consider making an offer of employment to a candidate at the end of the first interview. Extending the interviewing process will only decrease the probability of successfully hiring a candidate.
The time from which an employer introduces itself to a potential candidate to the time it makes an offer to that candidate should be swift. Often, employers allow too much time to elapse and lose a top candidate.
Typically this happens because of inefficient scheduling and a lack of a sense of urgency. The vice president from headquarters is not in town for two weeks, a decision-maker is traveling or an employer allows the candidate to dictate the scheduling.
Employers need to act decisively and control the interviewing process. Employers should only enter the market for a candidate when they are in a position to act without hesitation.
Decisive action and control are required when extending an offer of employment. If the employer has executed a solid and efficient interview, answering all the candidate’s questions while effectively communicating what the employer is offering, the candidate should be in a position to make a decision without excessive deliberation.
Throughout the interviewing process, the employer should be communicating to the candidate that an offer is possibly eminent and a timely response is expected. The candidate should be instructed to consult with his or her mentor and/or spouse, conduct research and reconcile the positives and negatives with respect to the opportunity.
If the acceptance requires relocation, this should be addressed upfront with all the subsequent research regarding everything from schools and neighborhoods to cost of living adjustments. Employers need to realize that closing a candidate on a position starts with the first introduction, not when they are drafting the offer letter.
With the employment market’s current state of increased demand, employers are required to get the candidate scheduled quickly, manage an efficient interviewing process and make a decision. Those employers who make the necessary adjustments and streamline their hiring process will come out the victors.
Those employers who continue to attempt to hire candidates as they have done the last few years will struggle.
People are going to work and good candidates are looking to change jobs, and employers need to posture themselves in a position to attract, hire and retain these candidates. Employers should demonstrate decisiveness, which instills confidence, and aggressively pursue candidates with a sense of urgency.
