HR

A successful hiring process is the difference between a candidate staying at a company long term, or churning within the first 45 days. This is something that 20% of recently hired candidates do, which means it’s imperative that companies get the hiring process right.

It costs anywhere from 30% to 150% of someone’s salary to replace them. Going through this process more than once for a role in a short space of time is therefore an expense that a lot of companies can’t afford. Even if they can, it’s money that could invest in other areas to grow the business faster.

So what can companies do to streamline the hiring process and save themselves all this time and money?

AI resume filtering

Filtering resumes using software, not people, is a faster process.

Allowing an AI to filter a resume also means that more criteria is considered. The 150 known biases that hiring managers can consciously or subconsciously face are also less likely to be an issue when it’s AI analyzing someone’s resume.

Reading through resumes can become tedious quickly if enough applications are received. This can lead to employees becoming disengaged.

Using AI to filter resumes saves hiring managers and recruiters this time. They can choose keywords for the AI to search for, then the AI will search the resumes for those keywords. The more keywords the resume has, the more likely they are to proceed to the next stage.

Since resumes can be filtered through faster, companies can reach out to successful candidates in days, not weeks. That means they’re less likely to lose a candidate to their competition and can fill the vacancy sooner.

Pre-screen candidates

Another way to streamline the hiring process is to filter candidates before meeting them in person. Candidates save time because they don’t have to travel to the interview. Hiring managers, meanwhile, can use this phase to find out more about candidates before meeting them face-to-face. This can help to pick up on any inconsistencies with their resume, or find out more about previous roles mentioned in their resume.

Phone interviews mean that fewer face-to-face interviews will be held, but ultimately it helps to streamline the hiring process because filtering is done without anyone taking the time out to travel.

The length of the call can also be dictated by the quality of the candidate, meaning that hiring managers can cut the call short if it’s clear that the candidate isn’t the right fit for the role.

Interview self-scheduling

Our recent survey showed that 64% of recruiters take two or more days to schedule an interview. 11% took a week or more.

Long hiring processes mean candidates are more likely to drop off. Reducing the time between offering a candidate an interview and the interview happening is one of the ways this can be changed.

Interview self-scheduling means that recruiters don’t need to act as a the go-between for candidates and hiring managers. They don’t need to send numerous emails or make endless phone calls; they can generate a booking link, send it to the candidate, then the candidate can book the interview in their own time.

This provides a more candidate-focused hiring process, which helps to improve a company’s employer brand and reduce the cost to hire. Candidates are given a more positive view of the company they’re interviewing for, and made to feel like their time matters, even before they’ve been offered a position—and even if they aren’t offered one.

This positive reflection of the company improves their employer brand and the hiring process for future vacancies.

Number of interview panelists

The more interview panel members there are, the more likely it is to not only take longer to schedule the interview, but also to conduct the interview itself. Everyone on the panel should be able to ask questions and answer candidates’ questions, but for bigger interview panels this becomes a time sink.

61% of companies have two-person interview panels, while 16% of interview panels have 3 or more people. This can improve filtering and interviewer bias, but companies need to find the balance between having the right people interviewing and providing a streamlined process for hiring managers, recruiters, interviewers, and candidates.

One solution to this could be to have different people on the panel to the person that held the phone interview. That way, more people on the team get to speak to the candidate and find out more about them.

Conclusion

Hiring a new employee is a huge undertaking. It eats up hiring managers’ time, and it can take up a lot of budget, too. The more things companies do to reduce this time, the more time and money they’ll save and the happier candidates will feel.