Be fast, Be agile

Selection processes involving recruitment are typical long in duration. From the date the job vacancy is posted until a candidate is contracted it will take rather months than weeks. Frustrating… right?

Let’s simplify it to something like applications, CV reviews, scheduling of interviews, several rounds of interviews, employer internal alignment, selection of candidate, communication, candidate decision and final agreement. All that as a straight line if all goes as expected, or better said, as desired.

Nevertheless, if the selected candidate is finally not accepting the role, for whatever reason, then the employer may have to look back to the other interviewees, or even back to the previous steps. And probably there it is where it lays all that “unexplained” lag of time to receive feedback from employers, from candidate point of view. Patience… the mother of all Sciences…

This impression of “nothing is happening” and that recruitment activities are typically slow could lead to the perception that there is sufficient time to catch up in the selection process, both from employer and candidate perspective. But, is that really true? Is the “do not panic, we have time” the right way to approach it?

On candidate side, based on the fact that recruitment processes take so many weeks or months, it can be interpreted that it does not matter much if I take a few more days or weeks to update CV, to follow up with the questions from recruiters, to share availability for interview, etc. And that could be a big mistake.

The thing is that not necessarily the best profile with the best experience is the one that will succeed to employment. To start with, there are so many factors that need to match altogether, that it is not that straightforward: professional background in line with Job Description, upcoming career aspirations (which may differ from current expertise), salary, package of benefits, (re)location and, lately as well, very decisive, the hybrid setup preference from candidates.

Secondly, having a good match with what required for the job does not guarantee the candidate will proceed to the interview phase. Employers would only typically interview a few candidates, up to a handful perhaps, so once that pipeline is filled, the applicant has lost the train. And then all those weeks will start to count… It will take time to arrange all the different interviews with those few candidates, to align agendas on employer’s side and discuss applications, to communicate, and to selected the preferred option or even the back-up one.

This means that all that lagged time is consumed in those activities, and not in scouting and screening further applications. There is a window of opportunity at some point, and that is the one that needs to be seized by candidate.

On company side, there is also the risk of disregarding the timing of the process. Having a lot of applications does not necessarily mean having sufficient qualified candidates to interview. Recruiters are well aware of that, and either staffed from company or external from agencies, they will be diligent to speed up the shortlisting and presentation of right candidates to the Hiring Managers.

It is probably there where the “relaxation” may happen. A Hiring Manager is in charge of multiple organizational and administrative things within the Department. A future employee that will be in charge of future activities is not probably the most urgent task to take care of. If additionally there is that mentioned elongated time of the recruitment process, there is the risk of no prioritization to take decision about certain resumes or interview outcomes.

This approach is risky. When a good candidate has been shortlisted by a recruiter, there is also a window of opportunity for the employer. The whole process is bidirectional in the end, and not only dependent on the big player, the employer. Nowadays, candidates are even increasingly having more negotiation power; remote work is a good example. And it is not only that candidates may decide to choose for another offer, in case they have. It is also a matter of disengagement. Not receiving feedback about application for weeks, at any stage of the recruitment process, may lead to dispersion of candidates, who may feel as not belonging or not mattering much to that potential future employer.

In the end, as for many aspects in life, it is key to be at the right place at the right time. For this reason, when a recruiter is presenting an opportunity, do not hesitate too much to be fast, to be agile, in order to follow up with clarifications, provision of information and arrangement of interview, from both ends. If there is really interest in the opportunity/candidate, secure your ticket to play. Do not hesitate. Do not lose the (your) train.

Ignacio Vilas Eguileta

ZenoTalent Owner & Founder