In 2023, things are moving fast – and change is in the air. As a result of the pandemic, employees across the globe have started to re-evaluate their expectations regarding work. In the US alone, 4.5 million people have walked off the job in what experts are calling ‘The Great Resignation’. So, what does this mean for hiring?
To put it bluntly, it’s time to step up your game. As people reflect on what a quality job feels like, they’re paying more attention to factors like generous pay, meaningful work, likeable managers, and unique perks.
Employees are flipping the script and asking “Why should I work here?” instead of the other way around – so if you want to seal the deal with high quality talent, you’d better have a solid pitch and strategy to engage them from day 1.
It’s time to ditch the painfully long and drawn-out interview process. If you snooze, you lose big time! Here are a few ways to prevent never-ending interviews from costing you your dream candidate.
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Be transparent about the process.
Communication is everything to informed candidates! Pair that with honesty, and you’re guaranteed to start things off on the right foot. Plus, by being transparent with what your candidate can expect in terms of interview length, number of interviews, and format, you’ll keep yourself accountable to a timely schedule.
If you don’t have any kind of standardized process in place, now is the time to define one. Think about things like how many interviews you’ll need, how much time you’ll need between interviews, whether you’ll have a skills test/trial teambuilder, and how many people need to be involved. Nailing down the details means less time wasted figuring it out when you’ve got a candidate on the line.
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Set an interview limit.
As of 2022, the average number of interviews before getting a job is between 2 and 3. If you’re thinking, “Hold up, we can’t make a decision that quickly!” then you may need to consider reevaluating the way you’re spending your interview time. Put yourself in the candidate’s shoes: wouldn’t you be annoyed if you waited weeks to book your 4th interview, only to receive another unstructured 15 or 30-minute slot?
Generally, 45 minutes to 1 hour is the golden amount of time to spend talking to a candidate. You can get a lot of valuable information out of a conversation of that length – but it does take skill to guide the meeting in the right direction. To stay on track, create a sheet that outlines your goals for the interview – then structure your questions around your need-to-knows.
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Transition to a sales mindset.
There are a ton of jobs on the market right now – with an all-time high of 912,600 job vacancies in the third quarter of 2021, according to Statistics Canada – and just like with any product, this surplus in supply has caused the value of many jobs to decrease. In order to stand out in a competitive market, a company must think of its hiring process like a sales funnel. That means operating with a sense of urgency!
If you have a buyer considering your product, you act quickly to close the sale. Convenience is a huge factor in making a buying decision, which means you should do just about anything to move the process along. Imagine how counterproductive it would be if Amazon hid their ‘add to cart’ button from shoppers – if you don’t book interviews with candidates in a timely fashion, you’re essentially doing the same thing.
The overwhelming majority of candidates who end up accepting interviews and jobs are those who had a response from the employer within 2 days of applying – so when an employee reaches out, try to get back to them within 48 hours. Even if you can’t give them the info they need yet, a response saying you’ve seen their message and will get to it is better than nothing. Communicating is part of closing, and you should never forget your sales ABCs – always be closing!
We hope we’ve convinced you to pick up the hiring pace! Just like an amazing EVP, a quick hiring process is bound to help you secure more talent like your best talent.
For more tips like this, make sure to join the Pivot + Edge Talent Network. We’re always sharing our top career insights, hiring tips and all the latest news from our team, and we can’t wait to connect with you!
