With Hiring, Timing is Everything

When it comes to hiring, timing is everything. Some of my more savvy clients know this yet it still takes them days or even weeks to set up a final interview or make a decision.  This slows a search down even further because in time the candidate goes cold on the opportunity or they may not even be available anymore.

 Here's what can happen if too much time enters into the process:

1.  The candidate thinks you like someone else more, they sour and don't want the job so much anymore..

2.  The candidate thinks you like someone else more and they take another job.

3.  They start looking at other opportunities and some may sound better and pay better.

4.  They start getting sentimental about the friends they've made at work and don't want to leave

5.  The boss finds out they're looking and they get a promotion or more money so now they're going to stay for a while.

6.  They start talking about it to friends and family who give them advice, confuse them and they decide not to move.

7.  Once you've lost the person because of any of the reasons above, your other leads are no longer in the market and you need to start the search all over again.

8.  People in the industry wonder what's wrong with the role, the department or the company, since the job is still open after all this time.

And actually, it's kind of rude. 

So why does it happen?  

Maybe you can't get all the people together.  Can't we move things around or do it in two different days?  Often the scheduler hesitates to ask someone to reschedule one of their meetings. You need to make this more important.  

Maybe someone is traveling.  Ever hear of Skype?  

People can't convene to give their thoughts. Isn't someone driving this process?  How about an insightful questionnaire that gets filled out immediately after every interview?

It's not the same game anymore. If you want to hire someone, you have to woo them a bit. It's not a one way street.  You may need to interview them off hours or at lunch.  You need to show them you're interested, decisive and ready to go.  That means you don't allow days to turn into weeks or you may find that the best candidates don't sit around and wait.