I recently had a client reach out to me regarding a candidate I had presented a few weeks before. We got to talking about what they had in mind and as we talked, I interjected the credentials and experiences the candidate had that paralleled for what they were looking and at the end of the conversation we both agreed that the candidate would be a great fit – the only problem was that the candidate wasn’t available anymore.
During the same outreach campaign on behalf of the candidate, another client I had contacted got back to me that same week and, though they didn’t have a specific position open at the time, decided to set up a time to speak with the candidate as they recognized that talent this person had. Within the next week, the candidate interviewed with HR and the group VP, a position matching the candidate growth goals and the company’s needs was put together, and an offer was extended and accepted.
Now I realize that not every company can be as responsive nor have needs that align with every rock star candidate like this client, but what other hiring practices are getting in the way of quickly evaluating, interviewing, and closing good candidates? Is your application process archaic and redundant? Are your hiring managers committed to providing timely feedback? Are executive decision makers reserving time in their schedules to meet with candidates to keep the process moving? Have you outlined hiring criteria so you can be decisive?
There is a saying in the recruiting business, “time kills all deals” and the companies who are slow and complacent are losing good candidates to their bad processes.