So you have to hire a ton of new people, and you need it done yesterday. What do you do? Same thing you did last time? Today we’ll hear from Adam Ochstein, founder and CEO of StratEx, on how to change things up in order to hire quickly and well.
 |
We are in a candidate-driven market, but few companies are adjusting their hiring processes to attract them. In fact, The Wall Street Journal recently reported that employers are taking nearly twice as long to extend offers compared to a few years ago.
When hiring managers take too long to make a hiring decision, they are more likely to lose out on top talent. Instead, they can do these six things to make quality hiring decisions quickly and lessen the gap between the time an interview happens to the offer.
Know the Difference Between Must-Haves and Wants
Oftentimes, it’s easy for hiring managers to confuse the skills a candidate must have with what they want them to have. To avoid this, before looking at any résumé, hiring managers should list what the candidate needs in order to do the job. Do they need a certain degree or a specific soft skill, like emotional intelligence? This isn’t a list of “nice-to-haves,” which are things the candidate doesn’t necessarily need but would be a perk if they did. Having a predetermined list will help hiring managers know exactly what they’re looking for from the start.
Be Consistent
Once hiring managers have a list made, stick to it. Also, they should find a system that works for them and adhere to that, as well. Whether it’s looking at résumés online, or printing out a stack of them, or blocking out an hour daily to read through them, be consistent.
Know What Works
Don’t start a new interview process without doing research, either. A good way to figure out what a quality hire will look like is to look at top producers in the organization and identify the qualities they have in common. Then seek those qualities out in potential candidates.
Automate When Necessary
There’s no question that interviewing and finding talent for your team is time-consuming. There are some tools hiring managers can use in the initial phase of hiring that will help decrease time and labor. Applicant tracking systems can be helpful when used in the initial screening phase, because managers can use the software to help identify candidates who have the criteria they determined as necessary.
However, automation shouldn’t completely replace the human element in the hiring process. While these systems can help weed out applicants who don’t meet the minimum requirements, they shouldn’t be used as a substitute for the entire interview process.
In part two we’ll hear more from Ochstein on having multiple candidate interviews and how to cut down on the amount of time interviews can take.