Stop Interviewing, Start Selling: 4 Tips to Streamline the Hiring Process

At a glance

• The main takeaway: The time it takes to hire new employees has increased dramatically across industries,leaving candidates burned out and underwhelmed. Time-to-hire is trending longer due to the competitive state of the current job market and economy.
• Impact on your business: If you drag out the interview process or lose sight of your goals for each interaction, you run the risk of losing promising candidates to competitors.
• Next steps: Engage a professional team like Aprio Talent Solutions to retool your interview process to drive efficiencies and find the candidates that will help your team achieve its goals.

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The full story:

Technical knowledge, personality fit, a strong track record of experience…there is a full list of criteria and specifications that comes with finding a new person to join your team. It is easy to lose sleep over the unknown and therefore overcompensate during the interview process to make sure you don’t choose the wrong fit — or let the right one slip away.

While a healthy dose of caution is important, many companies fall into the trap of burning out their candidates with a cumbersome interview process. A recent survey conducted by AMS and the Josh Bersin Company showed that, on average, the amount of time it takes to hire a new employee reached “an all-time high” in 2023. During the first quarter, average time-to-hire increased across all industries by one day, with the overall recruitment process increasing to 43 days.

As you may imagine, candidates are not responding well to long and arduous hiring processes. According to a 2022 survey by Greenhouse, 60% of candidates reported they were unimpressed by time-consuming recruitment processes, tempting them to abandon ship altogether (or worse, apply for a position at a competitor).

So, how do you strike the balance between creating efficient interview processes and performing enough due diligence to ensure you get the right person for the job? Here are four tips to keep in mind.

1. Get clear about your preferred qualifications

At Aprio Talent Solutions, many clients come to us with a “wish list” of qualities for their ideal candidates — but sometimes these lists can be blinders preventing them from engaging strong candidates that may fly under the radar.

That’s why it’s important to differentiate between must-have skills that are essential to the job versus “nice-to-haves” and qualities that can be coached. Expecting perfection will only set you up for failure in the long run.

2. Keep the interview process brief and structured

Once a candidate has participated in a phone screening, they often expect to be called back for a second interview or even a skills test to showcase their experience on a deeper level. But over the past few years, more companies have grown accustomed to calling back candidates for third, fourth or even fifth rounds of interviews before making an offer.

Of course, it is important to perform ample due diligence and get quality face time with a candidate before inviting them to join your team. But if you subject them to an interview process that takes weeks (or even months) to complete, then you will most likely lose them.

In addition to streamlining the length of the interview process, it is also crucial to ensure each stage has a defined purpose. Many recruiting teams feel the need to “over-interview” candidates on their background versus selling them on the job, career growth opportunities and company culture. Remember that the candidate is interviewing you as well, especially in today’s competitive job market.

Prior to engaging in the interview process, get clear on your goals and expectations, as a team, so that you can quickly move to offer the position to the right candidate when they present themselves.

3. Avoid looping in every team member

The old adage, “Too many cooks in the kitchen,” rings true here. It is smart to get buy-in and input from managers and team members who will work with your new hire on a daily basis. But sourcing too many opinions will undoubtedly bog down your interview process and increase the time it takes to make a final decision. Before you schedule the phone screening, ask a small number of key employees (for instance, the candidate’s potential manager and a peer) to sit in on interview sessions and make it clear what type of feedback you want them to provide.

4. Be flexible and stay prepared for the unexpected

Before you make an offer to your preferred candidate, prepare a list of negotiables and non-negotiables. For instance, how far are you willing to adjust the salary to meet your preferred candidate’s requirements? What is your position on remote work or hybrid work arrangements? Without proper discussion and preparation, you risk being caught off-guard if and when a candidate asks to negotiate, dragging out the interview process even further.

If you do decide to negotiate, don’t wait weeks to send your candidate a reply; they simultaneously could be courting a job offer from a competitor so you need to act fast.

The bottom line

Remember that your interview process and communication style are reflections of your company culture and your brand as a whole. Set a good example and stay competitive in the job market by structuring your interviews in the most effective and efficient manner possible.
 

It is also essential to know when to stop interviewing once you have identified the right candidate, so you can pivot to selling them on why they should be part of your team. Show them what makes your company, culture and mission different from competitors in the marketplace.

If you need help finding the right candidates for your open finance, accounting and IT positions, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Aprio Talent Solutions team. Schedule a consultation with us today.

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