How to Cater to the Needs of Candidates for a Faster Hiring Process
Not too long ago, hiring was in such high demand, offers were being made within days. That time has come and went.
According to HRD America, in 2023, the length it takes on average to hire a new employee reached an all-time high of 44 days.
What’s Causing the Increase in Interview and Hiring Length?
1) More Candidates, Information to Review, and Interview Coordination
It’s not just the economy causing organizations to change their hiring processes in ways that make them take more time. The pandemic increased the use of recorded video interviews, giving them more content to sort through.
In-person interviews decreased due to the pandemic as well, causing there to sometimes be an additional series of video interviews, in addition to the challenge of trying to successfully coordinate in person interviews.
Candidates frustrated with the lengthy process, are applying to more positions, creating a vicious cycle in which the job market is even more saturated with electronic applications, and employers are faced with sorting through a much larger amount of digital applications per position, which lengthens the process even more.
2) More Hiring Decisions by Consensus
As employers prioritize key hiring needs, more individuals are getting involved in the hiring/interview process, with upper-level and other colleagues often being asked to weigh-in.
With that, any company that does not have a designated hiring team, quite often are now delegating interviewing to line managers who are not clear on the organization’s hiring processes.
This does not mean candidates are either better or worse than before. It only means that these factors are making the hiring process longer, which can ultimately cause employers to lose good candidates simply from a combination of time lag and interview fatigue.
3) Economic Uncertainty and Wage Transparency
In fear of a slowing economic growth, employers are putting candidates through a longer interviewing process in general. The decrease in job postings has been most prevalent in previously booming industries, including tech.
An increase in pay transparency has caused a new competition for employers. Over the past few years, state and local pay transparency laws have gone into effect, increasing the number of employers disclosing this information on job descriptions.
While those seeking jobs may find more initial transparency about compensation, the pre-hire negotiation process is getting more challenging – again, causing a longer hiring process.
According to CNBC, some companies are even lowering salaries in job descriptions, in the efforts to decrease their need to negotiate over their salary budget as they had to often do during the pandemic. But for some job seekers, these wages are not matching up with their expectations, which at times detours good fit candidates from applying.
How Can You Better Cater to the Needs of Candidates?
- Candidates value interview feedback and are 4x more likely to consider a company for future opportunities if provided thoughtful feedback
- 82% of job seekers expect employers to provide a clear hiring timeline and keep them updated throughout the process
- The candidate experience is a reflection of how the employee experience will be. 68% of employees say their candidate experience directly reflects how they are now treated since being hired
- 52% of job hunters say lack of response from employers is their number one issue with the job search
- 89% of talent says being contacted by their recruiter will make them accept an offer faster
- Utilize Blackstone to build your winning team
