Sometimes, sourcing candidates is like you’re on a quest for a magic unicorn, and the hiring process suddenly turns to months instead of days. You find someone who astounded you with his experience and soft skills, only to find out that he has accepted an offer from another company or that he’s not technically fit for the role.
Even though you were almost there, you are obviously far from the goal. Now the business isn’t very happy because time is money, and no one wants to waste money on neverending hiring processes.

At times like this, Hiring Managers find themselves at a crossroads - should we satisfy with someone who ticks only one or two of the boxes, or wait a bit longer? Could the right candidate be just around the corner?

In order to reduce our recruitment metrics, we are blinded by the short-term solutions, and we rush into bad hires. Only to realise that way of thinking led us to higher retention rates and that we’re back on the same track again - we need to fill in the same role all over again.

How to hire faster and avoid the same mistakes?

1. Hire internally and use referral programs

It figures that the best hires are often people who already work for you. After all, they know what your business is all about, your company values, they’re hopefully already an excellent cultural fit, and they probably know what the role you’re trying to fill involves. Also, who better than your current employees who work at your company and influence your culture can help you hire the best people for the roles you’re trying to fill?

With that in mind, you’re sure to save a significant amount of time by implementing referral programs. The fact that applicants arrive via a reliable source means you can skip a large portion of the screening process.

2. Invest in your Employer branding

Employer Branding is necessary in today’s market if you’re going to attract the top talent.

According to a LinkedIn survey, 75% of candidates will research your company’s reputation before applying for a job. If they don’t like what they see, 69% of candidates won’t apply for your advertised position, even if they’re unemployed at the time!

Companies with strong Employer Branding see a 50% increase in qualified applicants, take 1-2x less time to hire, and reduce the cost per hire by 50%.

3. Interview only the best of the best

Without any doubt, interviews are one of the most time-consuming aspects of the hiring process. On average, a face-to-face (or video) interview takes about 30 minutes, and ideally, you will end up with 4-5 interviews. That will take 120-150 minutes of your company’s time, and that’s not that bad, really.

However, you may be tempted to call in everyone whose resume you liked, but this is a significant drain on time and resources. If you only call in the very best, hiring time will go down significantly.

It would certainly make the process less work if you were only to evaluate candidates who are technically suitable for the role, and for whom you already have a sense of their soft skills and experience.
All that may seem unlikely, however FatCat Select has your back.

We can help you save your time by doing all the work instead of you. You can outsource your hiring process to us and focus on choosing only proven candidates, while we confirm their quality.
To put it simply, a thorough understanding of your company culture and rigorous testing of each candidate are our tools for finding the right candidate for you. You will get a talent card for each candidate we send, so you can have all the necessary information before you decide to proceed and invest your time in meeting them.

Want to learn more? Contact us.

4. Make an offer – fast

If you’ve found the best person for the job and you’re sure they’re your new all-star player, don’t waste time and make an offer - fast. The average time a candidate spends on the market is just ten days, and waiting a day or two can mean the difference between make or break!

Be ready to negotiate. The competition is rough, and you can lose that perfect candidate if you’re not flexible enough. Additional days off, a budget for professional growth or something else could be an extra point for the win for your company.

Conclusion

Filling a role faster does not always mean making a compromise and settling for the least horrible out of a pool of mediocre candidates. On the contrary, that means you are attentive to your company’s (and candidates’) time and resources.
Similarly, a lengthy hiring process does not necessarily mean that you’re being thorough - it could equally point towards inefficiency. Try these tips for hiring faster, and give your productivity a welcome boost!