You Have To Be Fast

by Neil I. Clark

The Internet is changing the way we work (and play). What effect is it having on the way we recruit staff?

Before the Internet was fully utilised, candidates had to mail or fax their CVs to apply for a job. This required much paper and envelope stuffing (not to mention postage or fax costs). These physical requirements tended to limit the overall flow of CVs.

As e-mail began to be the more acceptable means of transmission, it became easier for candidates to send their CVs off to more and more jobs opportunities.

Following that, with the advent of the huge Job Search Sites, this became even easier. Candidates could now lodge their CVs with the search site, then, when they saw a job they liked, it was just a couple of clicks to send off an application, together with their CV. No more paper. No more stamps. No more hassle.

Of course, there is a downside to this from your viewpoint, because this means there is an increase in the number of inappropriate CVs being sent. Because it’s so easy to apply, there are some cowboys out there who just send their CV off to every job that is even vaguely what they are looking for (and many that they are simply not qualified for at all). After all, it only costs them one more "click".

In the last six months, we have received applications from the same candidate applying for jobs ranging from: Sales Rep, to Accountant, to Production Manager, to Financial Controller. This is not versatility – it’s more like desperation.

Consequently, there is a lot more work involved in sorting the incoming CVs.

A New Dimension

With the increased ease of applying for jobs, candidates are offering themselves to more companies than they did in the past. Previously, when they may have applied for three or four positions, they are now offering themselves to as many as 15 or 20 companies.

This brings in the element of speed highlighted in the title of this article. With so many opportunities on the go, a candidate is much more likely to be snapped up by another company before you get the chance to finalise your hiring decision.

A greater burden has therefore been placed on the employer to make a more rapid assessment of the available candidates. No longer do you have the luxury of spreading the interviews out over a week or so, then cogitating on the results of those interviews for another week.

If you don’t act fast, you will lose them.

Imagine, for a moment, you are in the market for a good second-hand car. You go shopping at several car yards, kick a few tyres and take a few test drives.

You see one that you really like. It’s a bright red sports car with mag wheels and the most incredible sound system you’ve ever heard. It looks fantastic and the price is right, but you want to check out some of the others in the area to ensure you are making the right decision. You know that other buyers may well be looking at that same vehicle, but you usually have a day or two in which to make up your mind.

Just suppose, however, that the amount of advertising that the car yard was doing on that car was multiplied 10 times. Imagine they have placed huge ads in all the main newspapers and all the local ones as well. In addition to that, imagine they have hired billboards on all the major roads in the district, shouting the virtues of this incredible red sports car. If they really went to town on it like that, you’d probably find the car was sold before you left the premises.

Luckily, that doesn’t happen with used cars (or, maybe it does – the Internet car market is also expanding), but that’s exactly what’s happening in the job market, now that the Internet has enhanced the whole process.

• Jobs have become much more accessible.
• Applying for them has become 10 times easier.
• The method of applying for them is totally cost-free.

It’s no longer a market in which you can take your time over making that hiring decision.

Don't Be Too Hasty

Now, this is not to say that you should not consider carefully the ramifications of hiring. You can make some very expensive mistakes if you get it wrong. What it does mean, however, is that you should increase the priority of the actions involved with getting to the decision stage.

1. When you are presented with candidates who have the right background, get them in for interview at the very first time-slot available.
2. Clear your diary to make way for these interviews and make arrangements for any others who need to be involved to do the same.
3. Put a greater emphasis on preparation for the interviews. Read the material well before they arrive, for instance, rather than as they walk in the door.
4. If second interviews are necessary, schedule them as soon as possible after the first. In fact, if you know in advance that second interviews will be needed, already have those times set aside in your diary.
5. When you’ve finished the interviews, give yourself no more than 24 hours to make your final hiring decision. Longer than this and your fabulous "red sports car" may be driven off by another.

Yes, the Internet has changed the game. It’s fast. It’s efficient. It’s much broader and deeper in content than newspaper advertising could ever be. And it has changed the pace of the game forever.