How to Improve Time to Hire with Candidate Screening
The clock starts as soon as you’ve sourced your candidate, or when they apply, and will continue ticking right up to when they accept their offer.
“Time to hire” is one of those all-important recruitment metrics that you just can’t hide from, and tracking it can help to answer key questions about your recruitment business’s processes:
- How long do your consultants take to identify that the candidate is right for the role?
- Once identified, how fast do your consultants move to hire the candidate?
- What barriers are holding up the recruitment process?
There’s nothing more infuriating than a slow hiring process. It can come from internal processes or slow clients that have yet to refine their own processes, but either way, it’s annoying and slows down things for your candidate, which leaves you at risk of losing the candidate.
How much time does it take to hire a candidate?
Glassdoor reports that it takes an average of 27.3 days for a candidate to go through the hiring process, and splits the interview process duration down by sectors in the chart below:
|
Industry |
Avg. Interview Duration |
Avg. Interview Difficulty |
|
Consulting |
55 days |
3.1 (out of 5) |
|
Travel & Tourism |
49 days |
3.1 (out of 5) |
|
Investment Banking |
45 days |
3.1 (out of 5) |
|
Technology |
40 days |
3.1 (out of 5) |
|
Telecoms |
35 days |
2.9 (out of 5) |
|
Finance |
31 days |
2.9 (out of 5) |
|
Retail |
16 days |
2.4 (out of 5) |
|
Hospitality |
10 days |
1.9 (out of 5) |
*table includes industries with more than one company in the UK interview experience report
Part of great candidate engagement will always be a swift hiring process that is comprehensive and doesn’t involve you calling the candidate back into interview on seven different occasions (yes, that actually happened before).
What is the impact of delayed candidate screening?
For freelancers and temporary workers, speed and accuracy is of the essence as every day of delay in the screening process translates into lost earnings. Of major concern to candidates is the repeated need for a would-be hirer and/or their recruitment intermediary to re-screen all of their credentials and their status as it relates to their eligibility to work, each time they change roles.
Long interview processes, combined with the tightening of the candidate market as a consequence of the pandemic, Brexit and regulatory change, means workers are likely to receive multiple offers through multiple channels. Consequently, only a swift, efficient and professional screening process will secure a candidate who may be being screened for several positions simultaneously with a view to taking the one that completes the quickest.
Research shows, too, that 60% of candidates abandon complex online applications, so shortening the process where possible can only be a good thing.
How can Access Screening help reduce Time to Hire?
At The Access Group, we offer leading pre-employment screening software which is designed to help businesses to stay abreast of changing legislation, delivering candidate expectations and avoiding reputational damage.
Aside from these key drivers, the automation of screening processes can improve efficiency, streamline operations, and lower costs. Automating screening processes and integrating all checks into one platform, without the need for third party relationships, significantly reduces the time-to-hire.
The ultimate trifecta in candidate screening is speed, accuracy, and alerts for ongoing compliance. For an optimum candidate experience, your onboarding screening processes should be mobile accessible. Look to create an intuitive digital experience that is hassle-free for both you and your candidate.
Screening technology allows you to create a branded candidate portal to improve the user experience and engagement with your business, while allowing candidates to complete screening forms that the consultant sets and which automatically autofill candidate details. The portal also provides a clear, quick and easy pathway for the candidate to complete.
Rullion, the 16th largest recruitment agency in the UK, managed to reduce their time-to-hire by over 50%, and report that:
““Previously, the screening process could take three weeks and references could go on forever because they were manual. That’s all gone. We now have an average timeframe of seven days across all business areas including references. It’s amazing.”
Because of this reduction in time-to-hire, they can now process 30% more candidates.
Find out what Access Screening can do for your recruitment agency – get in touch and book a personalised demo.
