Losing out to the clock
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At Lookahead Search, I am the keeper of the stats and I’m not ashamed to admit that I get WAY too excited over an =ARRAYFORMULA(). Apart from scratching my stats itch, there are a few suspicions of ours that the data has confirmed.
First in, best dressed seems to apply in the job market: 89% OF JOB APPLICATIONS THAT TOOK LONGER THAN 14 CALENDAR DAYS ENDED WITH A NEGATIVE OUTCOME. For applications finalised within 14 days of resume submission, this deceases to 52% of applications.
Good candidates have options. If you’re hiring, it’s probably because you’re too busy and need an extra pair of hands. Putting interviews off until you have more time will usually mean an interview process will go for longer than 2 weeks. According to the stats, you’ll most likely lose your candidate to another offer and have to start the interview process again with another candidate(s). A timely interview process can really help you hire the right people and save everyone’s time.
From an interviewing candidate’s perspective, a company seems less inclined to offer you a role when the interview process takes longer than 2 weeks. So, it’s in your best interest to get things tied up with 14 days as well.
To avoid losing out to the clock, if you’re interviewing with a company, keep in touch with your recruiter or company contact. Make sure you know what stage you’re at in the process and how long they anticipate it will take. Realistic expectations are really valuable, no matter how many options you might have.
If you’re a company that needs developers, you should have next steps worked out in advance. Let them know how you plan to proceed with 24 hours of meeting them. Set their expectations, keep things positive and tie everything up within 2 weeks to help you hire the best team.
