In hiring, time is of the essence! Yet, in many organizations, the interview process drags on, causing frustration for candidates and hiring teams. In my 21 years as Recruiter in the Multifamily industry, I’ve witnessed firsthand the consequences of a lengthy hiring process. An interview process that lasts longer than 3 weeks is going to cost you!

𝟏. 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬: In today’s fast-paced job market, talented individuals are in high demand. Delaying the hiring process can mean losing out on top candidates. 𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆…𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏 OFFER! And the company that has been interviewing for six weeks loses their top candidate! It is happening everyday!

𝟐. 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞: Lengthy interview processes can lead to candidate fatigue. As the process drags on, candidates may lose interest or accept other offers. 𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘. The best candidates have choices! If the process drags on and the candidate begins to lose excitement, you are going to lose the candidate to a competitor who moves faster.

𝟑. 𝐍𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: A lengthy interview process can also create a negative candidate experience. Candidates may feel undervalued or disengaged if the process feels unnecessarily prolonged. Candidates do talk to one another and if your reputation is a six week or longer interview process, this can tarnish your employer brand and deter future applicants, impacting your ability to attract top talent. Lengthy interview processes make it virtually impossible for us to keep candidates “fired up” unless there is excellent and constant communication from the hiring authority.

𝟒. 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬: Moreover, a prolonged interview process can increase costs for your organization. Each additional interview stage requires time and resources from hiring managers, HR professionals, and other team members involved. Additionally, the longer a position remains unfilled, the more it can impact productivity and revenue generation for your company. From a recruitment perspective, I’ve learned the importance of efficiency in order to maximize ROI for both clients and candidates.

𝐓𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬:

𝘿𝒆𝙛𝒊𝙣𝒆 𝒄𝙡𝒆𝙖𝒓 𝒐𝙗𝒋𝙚𝒄𝙩𝒊𝙫𝒆𝙨 𝙖𝒏𝙙 𝙘𝒓𝙞𝒕𝙚𝒓𝙞𝒂 𝒇𝙤𝒓 𝒆𝙖𝒄𝙝 𝙨𝒕𝙖𝒈𝙚 𝙤𝒇 𝒕𝙝𝒆 𝒑𝙧𝒐𝙘𝒆𝙨𝒔 𝒊𝙣 𝙖𝒅𝙫𝒂𝙣𝒄𝙚. 𝑳𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘𝒔.

𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 “𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒘 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒅” 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔.

𝑼𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚, 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘𝒔, 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔.

𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑𝒔.

𝑬𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒔.   By implementing these strategies, you can streamline your interview process and enhance the candidate experience, ultimately leading to better hiring outcomes. In conclusion, while a thorough interview process is essential for finding the right fit, it’s crucial to strike a balance and avoid unnecessary delays.