Hiring Process Response Time is Vital

By Alexis Stiebe

We know that communication between the hiring manager of a company and the potential candidates they’ve interviewed has an impact on the success or failure of making that great hire. But how large of an impact? We wanted to find out! To accomplish this goal, we conducted a survey on the length of the hiring process. An overview of the full results of that survey can be found here, but let’s take a closer look at questions 3 and 4.

These two questions deal specifically with how long a candidate is willing to wait for a response after you have interviewed them. Do you let them know what the next steps are? Are you quick to make an offer? There’s a limit to how long the candidate can maintain enthusiasm about the position and your company.

Question 3 asked:

Once you have been contacted by an organization and had an initial phone interview, how long would you consider “too long” before you get feedback or a response with next steps?

    • 33% of respondents said 7-10 days.
    • 28% of respondents said 4-5 days.
    • 22% of respondents said 2-3 days.
    • 13% of respondents said 11 days or more.
    • 4% of respondents said more than 24 hours.

We can see from the responses above, that most candidates consider waiting 7 days or more to be “too long” to wait for what the next steps in the hiring process will be. Are they still being considered? Will you be scheduling a second interview? Have you made a decision? This is information that a potential hire needs to know as soon as possible in order to remain engaged in the hiring process.

The responses to our next question just reinforce this data. Question 4 asked:

In your opinion, how long is too long of a hiring process? This means the period of time from when you initially interview for a job to the day a job offer is extended.

    • 30% of respondents said 15-21 days.
    • 19% of respondents said 1 month to 6 weeks.
    • 16% of respondents said 22-28 days.
    • 16% of respondents said 7-14 days.
    • 13% of respondents said 6 weeks or more.
    • 6% of respondents said 1 week or less.

These responses show that most candidates are comfortable with the hiring process taking about 2 weeks from initial interview to an offer being made. More than 2 weeks, and you risk losing the talent that will be the best fit for your organization.

We saw from further results of the Length of the Hiring Process survey, that a hiring process that is perceived as “too long” by the candidate can have a big impact on how that candidate views your company. We’ll take a closer look at some of those write-in responses in a future article. So, be sure to follow us on Linkedin for that update and click here to learn more about how the recruiters at Career 1 Source can help you find the best talent for your organization.