Time is something that we all wish we had more of. 24 hours in a day just never seems to be enough. As a hiring manager, you are probably busy juggling your day-to-day tasks. Hiring is something that can get put on the back burner at the cost of getting day-to-day operations done. Hiring takes time and time can be limited. However, time can either work in your favor or against you in the hiring process depending on how you play your cards. Allowing too much time to pass could cause good candidates to slip away. It is likely that good candidates will be interviewing at other companies. To keep candidates interested in your company and not have them swept away by a quicker hiring process, time needs to be considered when getting from the interview to offer stages.
Go into hiring with a plan
Before your team actively starts the hiring process, create a plan. Decide what it is that your team is needing from a candidate. Have a clear description of what this role will be. Decide what are the must-have qualities versus the nice-to-have and make sure the hiring team is on the same page with those. Then, have defined steps in your process. Make sure each step adds value to the process for both the hiring team and the candidate. Make sure you have enough touch points to get to know the candidate and their background but don’t add too many steps that drag the process out longer than it needs to be.
Keep candidates warm
Whether you find a candidate you are interested in but still have others to interview, or there is extended time between interview steps, or even after an offer is accepted and there is some time before the start date; in all scenarios, you will want to keep the candidate warm. This means you will want to have touchpoints and thoughtful communication to keep the candidate interested. Being quick and transparent in communication and communicating often is a great way to keep a candidate warm. For example, if a candidate has a second interview that is onsite but it is scheduled a week or two out, add a phone call or video call in between that time. Moving quickly and over-communicating will always be better than under-communicating.
Be decisive in your hiring
Don’t let the “what ifs” hold up your process. This goes back to deciding on what the must-haves versus the nice-to-haves are for the role. Don’t let trying to find a perfect candidate stand in the way of hiring a great candidate. Decide on which qualifications carry the most weight and what personalities fit best in the company culture. Don’t wait to interview a large slate of candidates before making a decision. If the right candidate comes along, be decisive and move forward in the process. Try not to let indecisiveness hold up the process, as it may cause you to lose the candidate.
The market for talent is still competitive and good candidates are going to be noticed by other recruiters and companies. Be thoughtful in the steps of your hiring process and move quickly. Be decisive and try not to drag the process out. Things do sometimes come up, so if this happens, be prepared to take the steps to keep the candidate warm. Time can either solidify or kill deals. Use time to your advantage.
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