Here’s Why it Takes So Long to Place a Great Tech Employee (And 5 Ways to Speed Up the Process)

"Research suggests that many companies find that it can take three months or more to find and hire a great technical employee. Sound familiar?

Three months of needed productivity is gone and not recoupable, hundreds of hours of time has been expended on interviews and discussions, and the loss of productive time from your hiring team members has to be made up somehow. If that wasn’t bad enough, #TopTechTalent can find a new job in as little as ten days, so they are not going to wait around for a company to grind slowly towards a decision.

So, why does it take so long to go through the selection and hiring process? Is it just the way that organizations are used to working? Is it because interviewing often gets pushed to the back burner? Or is it a function of automating the process?

Most companies have no idea how many work hours are lost due to reviewing resumes, scheduling interviews, interviewing candidates and then providing meaningful feedback that helps the hiring manager make the best decision.

But visibility only helps so much. Speeding up the interview process and then providing all the hiring team feedback in one place and organized can save days of delay and many hours of unnecessary work. More on this in my next post.

Here’s how to speed the process up:

1. Don’t overdo it. Put your focus on selecting the right candidates and don’t include any long-stots.

2. Monitor it. Check after EVERY interview to either eliminate candidates who are clearly not going to make it, or react quickly to candidates who are clearly front-runners.

3. Document it. Enforce written feedback. When an interviewer is forced to write down their impressions, they are also forced to think about it. Casual conversations lead to first impressions, and that’s a recipe for a bad hire.

4. React on it. When you see a great potential hire, run, don’t walk. Top talent will be offered more than one position.

5. Turn on a dime. As I just said, top talent will get more than one offer, so have some power left in your batteries to offer a closing offer. But think outside the box. Salary is important, but for a top performer, acknowledgment and being something “special” can close the deal.

So, even though your organization may be used to taking months to hire, you don’t have to.

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, hiring top tech talent remains a challenge that demands perseverance. Companies that navigate this intricate process with patience and strategic insight are more likely to find the tech leaders who will drive their success in a rapidly changing world."