How to Hire Great Talent in a Week

Hiring is tough these days. When you have an opening, the pressure to hire great people can be intense and stressful.

It takes time to find people. It takes time to check out their references. It takes time to figure out if they are a good fit for your team. After all that, you have to negotiate a financial package that works for both of you. The process can take a lot of your precious time. If you don’t act quickly enough, it’s easy to lose top talent to your competitors.

A study by Glassdoor of 344,250 hires shows the average job interview and hiring process now exceeds 22 days in the United States.

So, how do you hire great talent in a week? Prepare ahead of time.

Assess Your Hiring Systems

You need to review your systems to be sure they are as efficient as possible. Moving too slowly on a candidate is often a function of the process.

• Identify your key recruiting sources
• Prepare job descriptions and recruitment ads before they are needed
• Create an applicant tracking system and hiring plan to keep the process on task
• Prepare interview questions ahead of time to zero in on key attributes
• Create marketing materials that tell your company’s story

Always Be Recruiting

If you wait to round up candidates until you have an opening, it’s too late. In any managerial position, you should always be on the lookout for talent—both internally and externally.

➡️Internal Candidates

Identify internal candidates who have potential. By doing this regularly, you can provide training and incentive to prepare them for a position when it comes open. By putting your employees in situations where they can grow, you can assess their skills and fill in gaps in knowledge and experience.

Internal promotions are one of the best ways to maintain company culture. The right promotion helps morale and employee retention. 

➡️External Candidates

Identifying and courting key candidates takes work. It simply can’t be something you put on your task list and get around to when you have time.

Add these things to your regular to do list:

• Schedule time to recruit
• Attend networking and community events
• Be active on social media, especially LinkedIn, as a company and as an individual
• Consider running ads when you don’t have openings to develop your candidate pool
• Ask for referrals from employees, customers, colleagues, and competitors
• Maintain contact with any candidates you identify

Get Professional Help

The balance of power in hiring has shifted from the employer to the employee. It's a candidate-driven market! (Learn more about that here). It may be time to get professional help with your hiring needs. 

• 65% of recruiters agree a serious talent shortage is the most difficult challenge in hiring. 
• 86% feel the labor market is skewed in favor of job seekers.  

Recruiters have a pre-screened pool of candidates looking for opportunities and can help shorten the hiring process. They even have access to "off the market" talent.

It's Okay to Hire Help Hiring

Hiring great talent can be overwhelming, time consuming, and stressful. That's why professional Recruiters and staffing agencies exsist. And yes, they CAN help you hire great talent in a week...or less!

Artisan Talent can help. Contact us for more information and get a professional assessment of your hiring needs.