PART 1: 10 Ways to Speed-up the Hiring Process

In today’s day and age, top talent is in high demand and in short supply. Despite the demand, many organizations have slow hiring processes. According to The Wall Street Journal, employers, on average, are taking 25 days to fill vacant positions, with the average increasing to 58.1 working days at companies with 5,000 or more employees. Time is money. If you leave a $150,000 position open for just one additional month, that equates to $37,500 to $62,500 of lost opportunity the company will never see (according to a study done by CareerBuilder).

Do not lose talent to competitors, counteroffers or frustration due to a long hiring process. In part one of my two part post, I provide my top 5 tips to quickly search and find the right talent you wish to vet.
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1. Have a fluid application process: Make the first part of the hiring process the easiest: applying for the job. Offer convenience by giving the ability to apply on mobile phones. Additionally, due to online applications, many candidates are left with no option but to submit their entire work history into numerous sections and boxes online, only to then be asked to submit their resume on a Word doc or PDF. This is just one of many aspects of the online application process that adds time to the process and sometimes discourages qualified candidates to apply. If you are at a company that leverages online applications, I recommend looking into developing the tech in HR needed to create an auto-populate process. Looking for an alternative route? Instead of the online application focus on reviewing resumes, online portfolios and LinkedIn profiles, as they typically have the most up-to-date candidate information anyways.
2. Write a clear job description: This may seem like common sense but you would be surprised how many companies use a generic job description from previous templates or a simple Google search. Make sure your job description truly speaks to what the company needs. Think within the context of the role itself and the culture of the company, using language that sets expectations for work and performance. This way you aren’t arbitrarily fishing for a particular type of person, but instead baiting the potentially best performer for the position – and at a faster rate.
3. Build a pipeline of talent beforehand: Most of the time spent during the hiring process is on seeking out candidates who are qualified for the open position. This is because, typically, the search for a candidate does not begin until the organization has a position to fill. To cut down on time, always have a pool of talent readily accessible in advance of a job opening. Host informational interviews and network regularly. This helps to eliminate that first-round screening process.
   • ADDITION: Include passive candidates in your talent pool: According to LinkedIn, three-quarters of the fully-employed workforce around the world consider themselves passive candidates and 45% are fully open to considering a new opportunity. Great talent can be hard to find especially in a small selection pool of activate candidates; hiring managers need to proactively include passive candidates in the search for top talent. While it can be more difficult than active candidates as it requires sourcing techniques and persuasion, passive candidates add to your selection pool and can save time on finding quality.
4. Utilize employees to add to the selection pool: Your employees are sometimes the best recruiters. Notify your employees about job postings. This will give employees a chance to apply if they are considering a lateral move/position change and will also encourage them to look at their own professional network for potential candidates. Some organizations even offer a referral bonus for hires.
5. Partner with a staffing agency or independent recruiter: Many employers do not turn to recruiters even though those tasked with the responsibility to fill the position sometimes do not have adequate experience or the time needed to fill the role – often delaying the hiring process. Besides better insight and expertise, recruiters specialize in efficiently finding quality candidates. Partnering with a recruiter allows you to quickly get to the vetting phase, saving you time and money. Read my recent post on reasons to invest in a recruiter.

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As the talent pool continues to shrink and becomes more competitive each day, organizations must keep their eye on the prize. You do not want to and cannot risk losing a quality candidate. In a nutshell: plan ahead – know what talent is available and make it easy for them to apply. Organizations that learn to improve the speed of simply finding a candidate to interview will gain a competitive advantage.
 
Be on the lookout next week for part two of my two part post, which focuses on how to speed up the vetting/interview phase once you have a group of solid candidates.