As COVID-19 continues to spread across the U.S., businesses are under a lot of pressure. Hiring might not be the highest priority right now, but some companies need to make urgent hires; including those in the retail and healthcare industries. And many of these will want to do it fast.  

Despite the need for speed, you do need to ensure that efficiency isn’t downplayed either. During these challenging times, making a bad hire can be even more damaging than a long and drawn out recruitment process.  

In this article, we’ll give you some tips on how to streamline your hiring process and ultimately, reduce your time to hire. 

Don’t Cut Corners in Your Job Adverts 

The first part of your recruitment process is your job advert. So it’s important that you get this right. After all, it’s a precursor for how well your entire hiring process will go.  

While it’s understandable that you want to get your hiring process underway as quickly as possible, this doesn’t mean you should cut corners. You need to make sure your job adverts are clear and concise and include all the relevant information. This means you should include the job title, the salary, the responsibilities and the essential and desirable skills that you’re looking for.  

As a job hunter, there’s nothing worse than an unclear and misleading job advert. Plus it may mean that you receive more irrelevant applications because you haven’t specified what type of candidate you’re looking for. It’s a waste of your time and theirs; and it’s a sure-fire way to slow your hiring process down from the outset.  

Invest in the Right Tools 

When looking for candidates and getting your jobs in front of as many people as possible, using the right tools is a necessity. Job boards give you the opportunity to advertise your roles to millions of candidates, giving you a huge pool of talent to choose from.  

Whether you’re searching via resume databases for relevant candidates, or posting your jobs; they’re useful tools for showcasing that clear and concise job adverts and also targetting passive candidates.  

Not only will you be able to find the best candidates quickly, but thanks to innovative matching technology, you may even improve your quality of hire.  

Consider Automation 

Now that you have your job adverts in front of a ton of candidates, it can be tricky to shortlist the right candidates quickly. 

Automation tools such as Applicant Tracking Systems can scan through applications and remove any resumes that aren’t relevant to you. This ensures that you’re only presented with the skilled and qualified candidates you’re looking for; rather than having to sift through irrelevant applications.  

What’s more, other automated tools such as online assessments, give you the opportunity to assess candidates before they get to the interview stage, ensuring you don’t waste time on people who aren’t the right fit  

With the current coronavirus outbreak restricting the majority of businesses to phone and video interviews, your organization will need all the help it can get to evaluate candidates! 

Work on Your Employer Brand 

A final tip to consider is one that will take a little more time. However, it will get great results in the long-run. When it comes to reducing your time to hire, you need to be attracting the right candidates to your roles.  

When you have a great company culture that offers exciting perks and career progression opportunities, the word will spread, and better candidates will apply to your jobs. This way, you won’t have to stop and stall your hiring process to choose between applicants, as great candidates will be obvious.  

Furthermore, with a better employer brand, this will encourage employee referrals. Your employees can be your greatest asset when it comes to making quick hires. They will know the company, and can recommend people that will fit into the culture well.  

Why A Quick Time To Hire Is Important  

Of course, the cost of a drawn-out recruitment process is pretty high to begin with, let alone during a time where hiring is a low priority. But with all the uncertainty around the market due to COVID-19, some businesses need to make quick hires urgently. 

However, it’s one thing to make a quick hire, but they also need to be a good one. The cost of a bad hire can be even more damaging. These steps are just some of the ways you can reduce your time to hire, but it’s important to find a strategy that works for you.  

This could be bringing in automation where necessary, or encouraging more referrals. Whatever works for your organization, utilize these strategies!