The never-ending recruitment process

Long, drawn-out hiring processes may be turning candidates off

Brian Kreissl

By Brian Kreissl

Many readers likely saw Liz Foster’s recent interview with me on Canadian HR Reporter TV about the fact that the recruitment and hiring process is getting longer in many organizations. While I am never too thrilled about seeing myself on camera, I thought the piece was very well done.

Nevertheless, because it was a relatively short interview and this is a subject I am fairly passionate about, I have more to say on this particular topic. Therefore, I hope readers don’t mind if I also devote a blog post to this topic.

According to some studies, the interview process on average has gotten longer in recent years. That is in spite of the focus on metrics such as time to fill and the fact that more candidates are available due to a lacklustre job market and lukewarm economic recovery.

This has negative consequences not only in terms of losing out on candidates who accept other offers or decide to bow out of the interview process, but also with respect to employer branding. Having an overly long and drawn out interview process turns candidates off and can negatively impact an organization’s reputation – especially these days when someone can rant about her experiences on social media.

There is now quite a bit of focus on candidate experience, and having an excessively long, drawn out interview process with five or six interviews over several months tends to turn candidates off. While that’s understandable in the case of vacancies for executive or highly critical positions, in some cases employers are subjecting candidates for relatively junior positions to such an ordeal. Many employers are also delaying the decision making process and are not keeping candidates in the loop with respect to what’s going on with a vacancy.

Reasons for lengthy recruitment processes

There are several possible reasons for overly lengthy recruitment processes. Understandably, organizations are afraid of making bad hiring decisions, and recruiters and hiring managers don’t want to be called out for hiring someone who turns out to be a bad fit.

However, I think some employers may be getting just a bit too paranoid about hiring the wrong person. They likely believe all the hype surrounding so-called skills shortages, which leads them to believe almost no one out there has all the skills necessary to do the job.

Certainly when you read many job postings these days, employers are requiring a long laundry list of skills, education and experience. In many cases, practically no one has everything they’re looking for, with the result they end up chasing so-called “purple squirrel” candidates. That’s because many organizations have drastically cut their training budgets and now expect to hire candidates who are fully productive on day one.

Another possibility is some organizations aren’t filling certain positions because they aren’t really in a hurry to fill them due to cost constraints. If the position isn’t absolutely critical, they may just decide to hold out for the perfect candidate.

Yet employers need to be mindful of employer branding and the whole issue of candidate experience so they aren’t disillusioning candidates or losing them to other organizations. They also need to start being realistic about who they’re hiring rather than holding out for a “purple squirrel” and be willing to provide training to new employees.

It’s impossible to completely eliminate all risk of making a bad hiring decision. Sometimes employers just need to take a chance on a “diamond in the rough” candidate who could use some polishing. But they also need to provide adequate training, development, onboarding, direction and context to ensure the person is successful.

Ensuring a good fit while expediting the process

Panel interviews can help cut down on the number of interviews people have to attend, and they also have the added bonus of reducing bias in the recruitment process. Testing, simulations and requesting work samples are also good ways of ensuring a good fit, as well as proper reference and background checks.

Organizations should also be prepared to expedite the process for top quality candidates who may be looking elsewhere or who have other offers on the table.

Above all, it is particularly important to keep candidates in the loop and let them know when the process has been delayed and why. Even if there is no real news, it’s a good practice to follow up with candidates every week or two and keep in touch.

Latest stories