Companies need to act faster than ever before in order to secure the tech talent they so desperately need. Powerhouse tech employers recognize, interview and hire talent in one day.
National unemployment in the US is at 3.6 percent, the lowest in almost 50 years. Cut that in more than half, and you’re close to the unemployment rate for the technology industry. At 1.3%, the unemployment rate for tech workers is now the lowest ever recorded, and tech companies are scrambling to snatch up the talent they need.
Available tech talent does not last long, so you must act quickly when recruiting candidates, who are known to have multiple interviews a day and oftentimes receive more than one offer in the same day. Speed is the key to building and maintaining the tech teams you need; our top clients make hiring decisions within 24 hours.
This is easier said than done, right? If you’re a nimble, smaller company, you may be thinking, “Okay, but how can I trust that candidate is the right one after only one touch point?” If you’re an enterprise company, you may be thinking, “That’s impossible. There’s no way I can get my company to sign off on an offer in just one day.”
Yet, companies of all shapes and sizes must pick up the pace, or they will lose the talent. I’ve seen it happen over and over. Gartner’s 2019 Future of HR survey reports 65% of recruiting leaders say the tech talent market is more competitive than others. Whether you need full-time employees, contractors, or a combination of both, you have to move fast. There are many ways your team can start making small changes to get you where you need to be.
1. Connect with candidates quickly
Be proactive and be aggressive. If you take too long, you are already losing their interest, so reach out as soon as you see a potential fit. There’s a high likelihood one of your competitors already has. Don’t be afraid to call candidates at their workplace. One of the contractors we’ve worked with for years recently shared how he’ll never forget when he got our call while working on another assignment. He thought it was assertive, and it left an impression.
2. Connect with candidates on their time
Remove unnecessary roadblocks. If the candidate can only talk when you have a meeting, move your meeting. If they can’t talk until after business hours, be open to making that work. One of our candidates recently had such a tough work schedule that instead of waiting to find a time during the week that worked for an interview, the hiring manager conducted a video interview on a Saturday. It went well, and an offer was made and accepted on Monday.
Hiring managers we work with who move quickly on the qualified talent they see have a 2.9 to 1 interview-to-placement ratio, meaning that for about every three interviews, one of those candidates is hired. Contrast this with the average interview-to-placement ratio of 6.6 to 1. The average hiring manager spends more than twice as much time interviewing as their high-performing peers. During that time, candidates are already moving on and accepting other offers.
3. Don’t let processes slow you down
Don’t allow outdated company policies and drawn-out processes get between you and the top talent you are seeking. Old-school exams are time-consuming, and if you’re still forcing candidates to complete too many quizzes and forms, they won’t. They’ll move on to companies that aren’t. Companies that still insist on three to four rounds of interviews aren’t winning the talent they need.
A phone call with the candidate can reveal more about his or her personality, ability to work with your team, work environment preferences, and skills than several tests put together. One phone call with the right questions can yield more information than several tests or assessments.
4. Allow technology to expedite the hiring process
You don’t need candidates to spend an entire day in your office. Use readily available technology tools, such as video conferencing, to make hiring easier and faster. Texting is also the quickest and easiest way to access anyone today. Use it to confirm interview times or remind candidates of information waiting for them in their email inboxes. These touch points speed up the recruiting process by eliciting faster replies while also ensuring interviews aren’t missed and candidates keep up with all the material being shared about the position.
5. Don’t wait to make the offer
Once you get through the above steps and are ready to move forward, just do it! We have many clients that interview and make an offer that same day or the very next day. While it’s sometimes faster to hire contractors, we have clients who hire full-time employees in just a few days.
Our clients that successfully hire the most candidates have an 81% fill rate average, compared to the overall fill rate average of just 37%, and speed is without a doubt a top contributing factor to this statistic.
Be bold and hire quickly with confidence. Tech talent is moving too fast for any other option.
The 3-Round Interview Cycle is Over: 24 hours is the New Benchmark originally appeared on www.cio.com.
