A colleague (Bernie Reifkind) recently posted the following on LinkedIn:
ME: Respectfully, will there be a JOB OFFER forthcoming? My job candidate has been on 5 interviews over 2 months.
CLIENT: We should know something by the end of next week.
ME: Respectfully you are running the risk of losing this candidate, she is entertaining other offers.
CLIENT: But I thought that she wants to work here?
ME: She does, but she is losing interest. She said that the interview process has been WAY too long.
CLIENT: But that’s how we have always hired people.
The candidate took another job.
Companies need to realize interviews are two-way streets. You are not only choosing the candidate, but the candidate is also choosing YOU. Employers that take months to hire someone (looking for perfection) by putting candidates through multiple interviews/tests will LOSE great candidates.
Candidates have negotiating power too.
Here is my response to this continuing problem:
A very common problem, as companies seem to be looking for unicorns, can’t make decisions, or won’t make them in a timely manner. Speed up your hiring process – the “we have always done it this way” are the Seven Last Words of a Once Thriving Company… You forget that the candidate is interviewing you just as much as you are interviewing them. Treat a candidate with respect during the entire interview process, from the job description to onboarding. Your company’s future counts on it. Today, jobseekers have a lot of power to say no! They also have the power to rate your company hiring process poorly on tools like Glassdoor and Indeed, or complain about you to others in person and on social media. Today, you can ill-afford the “bad press” of a poor reviews.