The talent shortage has more than tripled in the United States in the last decade. With millions of Americans leaving their jobs, companies are finding it more difficult to fill vacant positions. When you do find qualified candidates that can be hired, how do you make sure that your application and onboarding process is expedited and seamless to get them in the door as fast as possible?
There are many ways you can shorten your application process, starting from even before you post your job opening, all the way to receiving your first application. We’ve got a few tips to help shorten your application process and onboard the perfect candidate faster.
☑️ Establish Timelines
Many factors determine the length of your application timeline. You may get overwhelmed by the number of applications you receive, and the amount of hiring managers can impact how quickly applicants are considered.
First, have set times for when the application is open, and when it will be closed. This will make it easy for you to establish timeline goals for each step of the application process. As you set timeline goals, include time to review candidates in waves. Clear dates also allow you to plan a time to review applicants with your team and keep speedy, clear communication.
☑️ Eliminate Redundancies
Identify the specific information you need to gather from the application. Have clear and concise questions, and don’t ask the same questions in the interview. Ask questions in the application process that will easily discern if they should move further through the hiring pipeline. Gathering crucial information will allow you to ask for details later in the hiring process, and learn more about the candidate.
☑️ Make the Initial Stages Easy
Use technology to your advantage! Job sites like LinkedIn and Indeed allow candidates to scroll through job applications on their phone, anytime and anywhere. Mobile applications have been climbing, as they made up 61% of all applications in 2021. Make it easy for candidates to apply for your job opening with a mobile-friendly site and easy to answer questions!
You can make the initial hiring stages easier by using advanced tools like Qualifi. With Qualifi, applicants conduct audio-based interviews from their phones at a time that works for them. This speeds up your hiring process by decreasing candidate response time. Get a head start at simplifying the interview process so that you can review candidates and provide a response faster to those who are most qualified for the job you're looking to fill.
☑️ Improve Internal Alignment
A quick application process can’t begin until your entire team is on the same page. Start early in the hiring process by clearly identifying your hiring needs. Keep the lines of communication open so that everyone is updated on any hiring changes. Identify what kind of candidate you are looking for — are you requiring a college degree and a certain amount of experience, or are you open to candidates with relevant soft skills?
You can also improve your internal alignment by improving your intake meetings. Use the time together to lay out your recruitment goals and timelines. You can also improve communication within intake meetings by remaining open to feedback and making changes to improve your standard operations.
☑️ Identify Your Bottlenecks
Evaluate the stages within your application process to see which take the most time and why. Once you eliminate the cause, you can speed up the hiring process altogether. Take the opportunity in your intake meetings to discuss which processes take up the most time, and what steps you can proactively take to shorten them.
Take a look at which tasks in the process may be doing more harm than good or the so-called “death by a thousand cuts” tasks. Are recruiters spending too much time on administrative tasks? Are there other routine tasks that could save some time if they were automated?
Qualifi is changing the way high-volume recruiters screen their candidates. Qualifi customers are seeing a same day interview response from candidates with our on-demand interviews.
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