A fast interview process won't work for every candidate
Don't forget about the whole 'active' vs 'passive' thing
1:30 read | Chime in and vote on LinkedIn here
If you’re like me and you spend way too much time on social media (i.e. if you’re reading this, put your hand up✋), you see the same recycled takes.
Topics that enter into the collective consciousness that everyone drags through the mud.
e.g.
2020: How to work remote
2021: You gotta hire all remote
2022: Gotta move fast af with your interviews to hire anyone
That last one has been popping up everywhere. Anecdotes about how we landed a great hire because we made an offer in a week. Or job seekers who made their choice because they were impressed a company moved so quickly.
Here’s the thing: that’s not wrong. It’s important. By no means am I suggesting anyone should slow down right now.
But it doesn’t capture the full picture.
There’s a lot of things that factor into the “how to hire well” equation right now. (Yes that’s a pun and I nailed it.)
Number of interviews?
Total length (in days) of the interview process?
Time/work involved in any ‘project’ (another rant for another day…)?
Is the offer competitive?
Did you sell the company/position effectively?
And my key point for today:
👉How many people will the candidate need to meet for them to pick you?
Even in this crazy, hair on fire market, there’s one core recruiting concept you cannot forget:
👉There is a difference between active and passive candidates👈
Speaking from our internal experience. Hirewell added ~40 recruiters to staff in the last 12 months. Some of the feedback we got: a lot of them liked meeting with lots of different people. They got a better sense of our vibe and felt more comfortable joining us.
And more people means more steps.
Not everyone you hire will be actively interviewing with lots of companies. They’re people who like their job, but are open to something better.
Passive candidates require a different interview process. Rushing it won't get these types on board.
My recommendations:
👉Focus less on how many interviews, more on lining them all up quickly & consecutively.
👉Dump the long projects, no one will do them.
👉If you’re paying under market, stop pretending.
The big one:
👉Your recruiters need identify which candidates WANT to meet more people. Adjust the interview process accordingly.
I’m including a poll here because I’m curious what the job seeker preferences are. I have no idea what the results will be. Will bet anything that not everyone will pick the same thing.
Click to vote:
You can follow me on LinkedIn here and Twitter here. Join the discussion on this LinkedIn post (or give it a 👍) here.