Demand Exceeds Supply: Speed to Hire Is Essential to Attract Talent

You have 10 business days before engaged, qualified applicants lose interest in your organization’s job listing. 

This isn’t news, but it spurs us to revisit two fundamental concepts for hiring managers: 1) Jobseekers are not a bottomless resource, and should not be treated as such. 2) The pool of relevant, value-add candidates is an even smaller subset, and you must act fast to draw from it. Bottom line, you can’t afford to fall behind in the hiring market. 

Here’s a quick market snapshot:

• The U.S. unemployment rate currently stands at 3.5%. There are 1.8 jobs per worker nationally, and 3+ per worker in the state of Utah. Employers are experiencing gridlock when it comes to active, productive hiring.  
• The global workforce consists of 70% passive job seekers and 30% active job seekers. (Pewresearch)
• Highly qualified candidates are available for about 10-16 days. (Officevibe)
• Even those who are on the job hunt for weeks or months are typically interested in your listings for only 10 days at a time.
• 60% of job applicants have quit an application process midway because of its length and complexity. (Hirevue.com)
• 6 out of 10 jobseekers will receive multiple job offers simultaneously. (USAToday)

• The demand for labor exceeds supply.
• Your applicants have options.
• Even if an applicant is solely focused on your organization, various forces can block them from fully converting to your hiring process.
• Speed can make or break a hire’s success. 

In other words, you’re missing out on qualified, enthusiastic talent with every job listing. 

Your competition may be other organizations. Or your competition could simply be abstraction and disconnection — losing out on great candidates due to an organizational dysfunction. In our recruiting experience, both scenarios can be remedied. 

Here’s what we at IsoTalent know to be a holistic set of solutions: Leverage recruiting resources to expand reach, streamline your hiring strategy, eliminate unnecessary barriers, and above all, simplify your touchpoints. This is my formula:



If you have three touchpoints, fit those across the four days. Top candidates should have no more than one day without contact. (Remember, the faster the process, the more likely you will get the hire you want.) 

How to dial in on this 10-day window of interest for qualified candidates:

• Market, market, market. Make highlighting your benefits, culture, and salary transparency a pillar of your interview and recruiting process.  
• Lock in numbers with an input-to-qualification formula: When you expand your candidate pool by X, your qualified candidates increase by X.
• Focus on “days in the pipeline” as a metric. As soon as the right candidate raises their hand or is hailed by a recruiter, take swift action to clear their way. This means eliminating less-qualified candidates from the running.
• When you establish this metric, find out where the process lags: for example, with individual recruiters, between departments, gaps in your software, or executive bottlenecking. This formalizes the process of accountability.
• Follow strict protocol on communication and follow-up with rejected candidates. (AKA no ghosting.) Even if a candidate is not hired this time around, their experience with your team directly impacts your employment brand.
• Make room on everyone’s calendars for rapid interview succession and decision-making.  
• Use a simple tool like Calendly to expedite the process.

If you don’t invest in these speed-to-hire fundamentals, your swell of top talent diminishes rapidly, candidates are driven to more nimble competition, and your organization’s reputation suffers. 

And if you’re making bad, slow, and outdated hiring decisions at a crucial crossroads in your organization’s growth trajectory, you’re doomed. The name of the game is speed.