I was reading a post today on LinkedIn about how tech companies have extended the hiring process from what had been approximately a three to four week term, to a six to eight week process on average.
Some of these processes are so tediously long from the time an individual has first contact with the employer to the offer letter, many candidates are pulling themselves out of the process due to shear frustration. Rightly so, many feel the hiring organization isn’t showing them respect extending the process over months, rather than weeks.
From January – June this year, our placement rate at ResourceWise Consulting is averaging 30 days. At the same time, we’ve worked with some organizations who move more quickly once they find a great candidate.
Others drag their feet thinking the candidate and/or we are “bluffing” about the individual entertaining other opportunities. On several occasions hiring managers have learned the hard way the candidate/we weren’t bluffing and he or she accepted an offer elsewhere.
The longer a position isn’t filled, especially at the Enterprise Sales level, the greater the negative impact to the larger corporate bottom line…and if public, impact extends to shareholders as well.
Lastly, I posted this both for organizations and candidates to understand what’s going on in the aggregate and how this process is broken. Organizations need to clarify their processes internally and make an effort to shorten the cycle, lest they lose excellent candidates. Otherwise, it’s just a waste of time and money from an organizational standpoint and for prospective candidates.
Hiring should be approached like project management. There are steps to each process that must be completed, prior to moving forward. The same rings true for talent recruitment, if the process isn’t built on a solid foundation…well, the “project” will fail.