Gem Care Advisor

Our insights and tips for job seekers and employers.

manager conducting an interview

How Long is Too Long When Finding the Right Hire?

Most hiring managers seem to share a similar sentiment when it comes to finding the right hire – when they need someone, they need someone now! And, that’s only the beginning when placing a qualified candidate in a vacant position. Often enough, vacancies will go unmanned for months before any candidate can take over and call that position their own. 

The more specialized the position, the harder it is to find a qualified candidate who can do the job. Many different companies competing for these candidates, and if a company does not act quickly enough, they may find that they lost out until they find the next one. And, who knows how long that could be, right?! 

Because of this, companies are ready to put their guards down just a little bit. They give into concessions; they pad the benefits package, and they up the budget for an old-school bidding war. What happens when there is no budget and candidates are scarce? What if the hiring process is taking too long? How much longer can you go without adequate manpower? Can you effectively expand and grow, while waiting for the right person to walk into that room? 

Analyze your hiring cycle. 

Analyze your hiring cycle to decide what you are doing wrong. Where are qualified talents filtered out of the funnel? Where are the bottlenecks taking place in your standard hiring process? Here are a few places you may want to start: 

Job Descriptions 

Does what you’re asking for sound a bit too demanding? Are you clear enough for the applicant to understand? Are you notating the perks of hiring? 

Sometimes, we are asking too much from our candidates upfront when they are: 

  • Pressed for time, actively employed while seeking out new opportunities
  • Aren’t sure about spending an extra hour on another application that will never be seen
  • Don’t feel comfortable submitting additional information to a company they have never heard of

Specialized Job Boards & Industry-Based Sites 

Where are you posting your jobs? Some candidates frequent specialized job boards, as opposed to Monster, Indeed, CareerBuilder and the likes. They have come to acknowledge the most popular placement sites, as being a waste of their time, whereas: 

  • They have come across scammers.
  • They feel there is too much competition.
  • The salary tends to be lower. 

Candidates avoid these types of sites because they don’t want to jeopardize their current employment for fear that their employer also visits when posting for new hires. They prefer working with recruiters and staffing agencies, such as Gem Care, who can help place them with a trusted organization at a higher rate of salary, which they deserve. They find value in specialized attention and prefer finding listings directly in their field. 

Screening Methods 

Ask yourself: 

  • What are your current screening methods, and how are they working against you?
  • Are you asking too much from a future applicant? · Are they getting caught in applicant tracking systems (ATS)?
  • Is there a glitch in your new hire portal?
  • Do all the links work on your website?
  • Are applications getting stuck in your spam folder?

Once you have answered these questions, it’s time to start finding new solutions. Try benchmarking the performance of each item that you are assessing, and you may find your talent pool improving over time. 

Promote the existing workforce. Hire from within. 

Be more flexible. Understand that with training and coaching, your current workforce may prove more efficient. Your current workforce knows your product or service very well. Your current employees already know how your company works and how it operates. They may even know how to complete the tasks at hand – they just might not be credentialed. 

Save your company valuable time, money Yuand energy by investing interest in your current workforce. Lower-level positions tend to be easier to fill, and the employee, who is promoted, tends to be more loyal. 

Expand your search but try not to be desperate. 

Whether you’re restricting your search to a specific location, not accepting applications to candidates willing to relocate or avoiding social media when reaching out to potential candidates, you should probably expand your job search. 

Be open to the type of candidate you are willing to interview. Invite candidates that are transitioning from other industries. Use LinkedIn to network. Not everyone is actively searching for a new job, but this doesn’t mean they aren’t open to new opportunities. At the very least, they may have an additional candidate or two to send your way. 

Stick to your objectives but always act in the best interest of your organization. Desperation will attract the wrong candidate, and you may learn to regret it otherwise. 

Be proactive and develop partnerships. 

Don’t give up. Stay proactive in your mission to fulfill those hard-to-fill positions — team up with workers’ unions, professional organizations, and trade schools in your area. Skilled workers are often hard to come by, so you may need to step outside your comfort zone and go to them! Be open to tradeshows, conferences, and hosting industry events. Not only will you grow your pool of qualified candidates, but you will continue to position yourself as a leader amongst your competition. 

GIVE GEM CARE A SHOT 

Let us help you with those hard-to-fill positions that have been nagging you for months. Our team has already vetted hundreds of specialized candidates in Manufacturing, Sales, and Engineering and are ready to place someone, today! Give us a call. We might be that missing link! 

 

Share This Post:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email