Attention Employers: To land the best candidates, you must reduce your time to hire. Why is this important? Nearly 60% of your candidates will walk away if they perceive your application process is taking too long.

You already know that historically low unemployment levels are negatively affecting your ability to bring on top talent. But did you know that today, if your recruiters are taking too long to interview and hire a candidate it’s bad for your business?

Here is how you can set your recruiters up for better success:

Dump Online Assessments.

Online personality testing and skills assessments are still very popular. Trust us when we share that you up the chances of the candidate just walking away when you force them through that hoop.

Last year Workforce reported on the experience of candidates that take an online assessment. These screenings can range from 20-minutes to two days. These tests are designed as an unbiased way to assess job skills, and most employers consider them a necessary way to gauge skills.

But Workforce asks some important questions that hiring teams should consider: Do they know what the questions are and can they pass it?

Workforce says:

“Many hiring managers and talent acquisition staff have never seen some of the questions they ask job candidates, and in many cases, they would be the first to fail these tests. The reality is that online tests and assessments have become an out of sight, out of mind tool for HR teams:”

For the recruiter, the hiring test is often a necessary evil. While the hiring manager or even corporate bureaucracy may demand it, in a candidate-driven market, most applicants recognize there might be an easier opportunity to pursue. Candidates can now be more selective in their job search, and employers that use outdated or unnecessary job testing could have a disadvantage. In this job market, employers should recognize that candidates would be more likely to walk away if they perceive the testing process takes too long.

Should employers dump these tests completely? The answer is “It depends.” For more technical roles it might make sense to test, but if it’s just a personality test does it add something that a face-to-face interview doesn’t cover? The point is that employers should be willing to reassess their accepted, traditional methods of hiring to speed up and streamline their process – and ultimately, get more talent.

Reduce Time to Hire with Better Recruiter Training

Employers can reduce time-to-hire numbers by training recruiting teams to properly mine relationships with passive candidates. Employers can also work to train recruiters to write well-informed, job descriptions so candidates will have all the information they need to apply. Most importantly help train your recruiters to fill their talent pipeline.

Talent pipelines are filled with a group of candidates you have pre-screened for a particular set of relevant job skills. You can build this pipeline by:

  • Defining the roles you hire for most frequently.
  • Understanding the job requirements.
  • Actively cultivating these candidates by making contact with them on social media, at conferences, through referrals, or other venues.
  • Staying in touch with these candidates regularly so that when a job opening happens, you can call them and let them know first, even before the ad is placed or req created.

It’s Exactly in This Area that We Can Help. 

Exelare has technology that helps hiring teams develop and manage a talent pipeline that employers can capitalize on. We can also provide you with advice and support around ways to improve your hiring process. Schedule a demo now.