The hiring process is timely and costly. It always has been. Attracting candidates, screening CVs and interviewing applicants are all time-consuming tasks. For the already-stretched in-house teams, recruitment can get pushed to the bottom of the list.
Just how long is long?
The time it takes to recruit depends on the industry and level of the role. In August 2021, LinkedIn analysed 400,000 confirmed hires made on the platform. It showed a massive difference between the quickest process for job hunters (33 days for administrative roles) and the slowest (49 days for engineering roles). Whichever end of the range roles sat on, that’s still on average over a month to get a new recruit in place.
Why does the hiring process take so long?
Of course, it’s important to invest time and thought in a recruitment process. It’s been proven that one structured interview has greater accuracy than three unstructured interviews. And better hires mean avoiding the hefty cost of re-recruiting.
Longer processes, involving more people, can also help to avoid discrimination, and more companies are introducing extra elements to the process, including extended background checks, personality tests and skills assessments. While this can help you to be discerning, it’s easy for the process to become long and drawn out.
But the big pressure point is the lack of recruiters. In August 2022, data from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies showed that HR vacancies were 13.5% higher this year than last, with a third of vacancies being for specialist recruiters. With this lack of TA talent, it’s no wonder that companies are struggling to recruit effectively.
Why do you need to get a wriggle on?
We all know that the way a company presents itself during the recruitment process can either entice or repel candidates. When candidates apply for a new job, they’re keen to get their feet under the desk and start earning their new, often higher, salary. A laborious, extended process can put people off working for you. It’s a candidates’ market out there and great candidates will get snapped up, fast.
When a vacancy is unfilled, you’ll be losing money and putting extra pressure on the remaining staff. And that’s not to mention, of course, the longer the recruitment process, the greater the workload and cost.
What can be done to speed up the hiring process?
There are some simple ways to streamline your hiring process, without losing the quality of the outcome:
- Carefully craft your advert to attract suitable candidates the first time around, so you won’t have to restart over.
- Streamline your decision-making process. How many colleagues do candidates really need to meet? Is every interview essential?
- Tailor each interview to the specific role to garner the most insightful answers from candidates.
- Outsource your recruitment to specialists, leaving your in-house team to focus on their core priorities.
The risks of working with an agency
Outsourcing comes with its hazards. External agencies can struggle to align with company values and requirements, it can take considerable time to hire them, commissions can be hefty, and you can’t guarantee the level of experience you’ll be paying for.
Low-risk, cost-effective and streamlined recruitment
Recruiter on Demand is different. Partner with us, and we’ll fully embed into your team. You’ll only need to onboard us once, and then you can scale up and scale back depending on what you need, and when.
We’ll streamline the process, saving you time and money – right from the word go – and ultimately, cut the time to hire.
We can support you with all the legwork of sourcing and attracting candidates, CV sifting, assessment calls and reviewing candidate backgrounds, which will free up your in-house team.
Our TAs come with a wealth of experience, each having worked for at least a decade in the recruitment industry. We’re low-risk, cost-effective and experts in our field.
If you want to save time and money – and recruit exceptional candidates – contact us today.