Hiring the right candidate for the job you have open is a complex undertaking for any organisation. A successful recruitment process is one where the critical steps of finding candidates, interviewing them and making a job offer are all completed efficiently.

But how long should this process take? In Australia, the average number of days it takes to recruit a new mid-level manager is 33 days, reaching as high as 46 days for senior-level managers and 59 days for executives, according to research by ELMO and the Australian HR Institute.

Many candidates expect the recruitment process to take a few weeks when they apply for a role. However, it is guaranteed that highly skilled professionals will have several opportunities to choose from. For employers, this poses a risk that people will drop out of the process if it is too long, losing them potential top talent and restarting the recruitment cycle again.  

What are the best ways to streamline your organisation’s recruiting without sacrificing quality? Read on to discover our approaches for speeding up the hiring process and securing the best talent each time you hire.

Understand What Makes a Great Candidate

One of the most important tools for securing the best talent is a well-written job description.

A job description covers the skills and qualifications a candidate must have, as well as the essential attributes needed for the role, such as leadership ability and communication skills. Think about the team and company culture – which traits might fit best within these dynamics? All these elements can be outlined in this document.

When written well, a job description can make job advertisements more enticing. A recruitment partner will write the advert for you, so ensure that you provide a clear brief to them to attract the best candidates. If the company is offering a hybrid position in Brisbane, or a fully remote role open to anyone in Australia, be explicit about this in the copy.

By being as specific as possible, employees who don’t fit the criteria are also less likely to apply, which can save Hiring Managers time on looking at unsuitable applications.

Find Ways to Improve Efficiency

One of the most common hurdles to speeding up the hiring process is inefficiency. Being slow to respond to candidates or move them through an unwieldy process can lead to them abandoning the process altogether.

To increase the pace, you should look for bottlenecks at every stage, from application to offer. Is it taking several days to respond to new job applicants? Are there other Managers available to interview a candidate as a backup? What issues arise when scheduling panel interviews? Consider the time frames that are reasonable for each type of role. Three or four interviews might be expected for an executive position such as a Project Engineer, but two interviews are likely to be more appropriate for a mid-level position such as Drilling Crew.

Ensuring all decision makers are quick to act once the ideal candidate is interviewed can give your hiring more momentum. Where possible, get all necessary approvals for a position signed off before you start interviewing candidates. It might also help to ask candidates to undergo reference checks and any specific skills assessments before the second interview, so you can make informed decisions about which candidates should proceed further.

Make Technology Do the Hard Work

Technology can make an outsized impact on your organisation’s recruitment efficiency. If you have identified specific tasks that could benefit from automation, you will likely find a software tool or platform that suits your needs.

An expanding organisation with growing recruitment demands can benefit from using software like an applicant tracking system (ATS). These platforms can help Hiring Managers screen applications for multiple job vacancies within a team, send confirmation emails to candidates, schedule interviews and more.

Consider how you can make the application process seamless. Are your company’s careers page and online site mobile-friendly? How long does it take to complete a job application? Does the application questionnaire ask candidates to input the same information multiple times? Any of these can be cut down to introduce some efficiency!

Treat the Job Offer Process with Care

A timely and attractive job offer is arguably the most critical aspect of securing the best talent. Sought-after professionals such as Engineers, Planning Managers and Geologists are less inclined to wait weeks for a job offer when they have multiple opportunities to choose from.

After the final interview, it’ll help to move quickly to inform candidates about the timeframe they can expect to receive an offer. If it is possible, you could make an offer to your preferred candidate on the same day of the interview – pending references, of course.

Although it is common for organisations to run reference checks on candidates right before making an offer, these can sometimes take longer than expected. Making a verbal offer before background checks are finalised enables you to ‘lock in’ the candidate.

Making the offer an attractive one is just as crucial. Ask candidates about their salary expectations as early in the recruitment process as possible, so it is easier to make an offer they will happily accept.

When an offer starts to lag due to salary negotiations it is easy for a candidate to walk away. Should you choose to set offers lower than candidates’ expectations this can reflect poorly on the business, so researching current market salaries is essential.

Use a Recruiter

Accessing the services of a recruitment agency to help streamline the process, or outsourcing it completely, can deliver major dividends in speed and efficiency.

Recruitment specialists manage large networks of qualified candidates, all who have been pre-screened. By organising interviews, providing feedback and conducting background checks, an agency can remove a sizeable piece of the administrative work involved in recruiting.

Work with a recruitment specialist and help your organisation tap into the most up-to-date data on salary trends for your industry and the roles you are recruiting for. With their in-depth knowledge of the current job market, recruiters can help you assemble impressive job offers that are fair for both parties.

Summary

Recruitment processes have a lot of moving parts. By setting expectations about candidates, addressing inefficiencies and using technology to streamline activities, employers can save ample time and resources. There are always opportunities for speeding up the hiring process, so remember to periodically look at this to find areas for improvement.

Looking for a head start on boosting your recruitment function? Patch Personnel’s team of oil and gas, engineering and construction recruitment experts can help you develop a custom strategy for hiring excellent candidates without delay. We consult clients in Brisbane and across Australia to help them find the best talent. Get in touch with us today to find out more.