How Can You Reduce Time-to-Hire?
In the fast-paced world of recruitment, reducing time-to-hire is crucial for HR professionals. We've gathered nine effective methods from HR Managers, Recruitment Team Leads, and others, ranging from qualifying candidates with fixed questions to leveraging programmatic job advertising. Discover how these industry experts streamline their hiring process to secure top talent swiftly.
- Qualify With Fixed Questions
- Pre-Screen with Questionnaires
- Develop a Comprehensive Interview Plan
- Automate Candidate Communication
- Align Job Description with Vision
- Utilize AI for Initial Screening
- Craft Precise, Transparent Job Descriptions
- Set Clear Expectations During Intake
- Leverage Programmatic Job Advertising
Qualify With Fixed Questions
Relying on qualifying questions instead of traditional resume screening has substantially reduced time to hire.
Like most organizations, we would painstakingly scrutinize each resume that came our way, often by both HR professionals and hiring managers. As the volume of resumes increased, this became less and less tenable, consuming more of our time.
Additionally, when ChatGPT entered the scene, it became very clear that resumes could no longer serve as a screening tool, as they were all either fully written by AI or at least curated by it.
Instead, we created a simple application form using our applicant tracking system and included a fixed set of qualifying questions. Instead of judging whether experience is relevant on a case-by-case basis, we simply mandated a minimum amount of experience through the form, rejecting anyone without relevant experience.
This reduced time to hire significantly, as we no longer needed to wait for HR and hiring managers to sign off before progressing candidates' applications, speeding up the process massively.
Pre-Screen with Questionnaires
Implementing pre-screening questionnaires has significantly reduced our time-to-hire. These questionnaires filter candidates based on essential qualifications and skills before they reach the interview stage, ensuring only the most suitable applicants proceed. This streamlines the process and speeds up hiring decisions.
Develop a Comprehensive Interview Plan
Before doing any recruitment for a role, a comprehensive discussion needs to happen to set up what the interview process is going to look like, what kind of candidates the hiring team needs to see, and anything that might get in the way of the ideal timeline to fill the role.
A successful interview plan will have:
- Each step and interviewer mapped out
- Ideal time-to-fill
- Set days to schedule interviews, and days to avoid (planned travel, etc.)
- Outreach sent to the interview panelists letting them know that they'll be asked to interview candidates, along with a detailed explanation of what the interview needs to cover and look like (if a live call/video/meeting can't happen with the interview panel)
You can send hiring teams all the perfect candidates in the world, but without the process laid out prior to launching the search, there are too many elements out of your control.
Decrease time to fill by knowing what roadblocks you have ahead of time.
Automate Candidate Communication
Implementing an automated candidate engagement system that sends personalized emails and texts to candidates at different stages of the application process can drastically reduce time-to-hire. For instance, once a candidate applies, they receive an immediate acknowledgment, followed by a pre-scheduled email with a link to a pre-screening assessment. Automated follow-ups remind candidates to complete necessary steps, ensuring a smooth and swift progression through the hiring funnel without manual intervention.
Align Job Description with Vision
It all starts with locking in a very clear vision of what you want. Once you have, take the time to ensure it's reflected in the job description. The job description should be your north star in both the recruiting and the screening of potential candidates. Making sure everyone is on the same page with skills and qualifications, as well as expectations, will avoid having to pivot once a recruitment process has started. Set yourself up for success.
Utilize AI for Initial Screening
We've been utilizing AI-driven solutions. There are a lot of players in this space, but at Kerplunk, we've built an insanely powerful top-of-the-funnel screener that utilizes AI-powered, one-way interviews to help companies source, vet, and rank the top applicants for a given opening.
Craft Precise, Transparent Job Descriptions
As the head of a busy and ever-growing recruiting firm, perfecting job descriptions has played a crucial role in reducing the time to hire for my recruiting projects. Many employers have a habit of listing the 'good-to-haves' along with the must-haves in the job requirements, leading to fewer applicants and a limited talent pool, often attracting candidates who expect a higher salary than the employer is willing to pay because of their qualifications. This leads to an overly long process of hunting the right candidate. At other times, vague job descriptions lead to a sea of both relevant and irrelevant candidates, only for them to abandon the recruiting process or get rejected after determining in the initial screening that the job was a mismatch. Not including any benefits/compensation information is also a turn-off for qualified professionals who may refrain from applying, and other applicants often end up ghosting the recruiter after their interview when they find out that the salary doesn't meet their expectations.
I've now set specific criteria for creating job posts at my recruiting firm. Firstly, we require clients to only list the must-haves in the job requirements in order to attract a maximum number of qualified candidates. Secondly, we require an in-depth description of the job role to set clear expectations from the beginning and ensure only those candidates apply who have the ability to meet the daily demands of the job. Thirdly, we include some salary and benefits information to ensure transparency early on.
Set Clear Expectations During Intake
The game-changer for me has been being upfront about my expectations during the intake process. I require that hiring managers confirm the role's accountabilities, salary range, and ideal interview workflow before we meet, and before the role goes live. That results in an efficient and thorough intake meeting, during which we also agree on timing (aka how long a candidate can sit in any one stage of the process). If they fall behind, they know I'll be bugging them!
And of course, that happens - but if we align on how we're both prioritizing the role, things run a lot more smoothly and *bonus* I can let my candidates know what to expect and when.
Leverage Programmatic Job Advertising
One effective method I’ve used to reduce time-to-hire is leveraging programmatic job advertising. By using software to automatically place job ads across multiple platforms, I can target the right candidates more efficiently. This approach ensures that only the most qualified candidates see the job postings, significantly reducing the number of unqualified applications.
I also rely on the software to vet candidates, which speeds up the initial screening process. The software uses algorithms to match candidate profiles with job requirements, presenting only the best fits for further review. This cuts down the time spent manually sifting through resumes.
Additionally, programmatic job advertising allows for real-time adjustments based on performance data. If a particular platform isn’t yielding results, the software reallocates the budget to more effective channels, ensuring a continuous flow of suitable candidates.
