How to lose a candidate in 10 days – or less

Your competitors are stealing your candidates from you.  They are out on social media, targeting and courting your potential candidates before you even have a shot. They are moving faster than you, snatching up the experienced hires before you make them an offer.

The average qualified candidate only stays on the market for 10 days.

Your competitors are not better than you. Your company has great benefits, comparable compensation plans, and your employees work hard and play harder. So why are you losing your candidates before you’ve even found them?

• You’re looking in the wrong places: Hang out where your candidates hang out. On social media be sure to check your analytics to see which social media platforms are performing best. Then create a plan to step up your presence there. Meetups for sales or tech people? Hang out there. Emails are working? Hang out on your email marketing tools and always adjust them to make them better. Referral programs? Find your top influencers and nurture them to become better.
• Posting jobs everywhere isn’t getting you anywhere: Rather than worry about the number of job boards you are on, worry more about the quality of the ones you are on. Specialized job boards, niche job boards. They might be more helpful. Be sure your job ads are featured or near the top of job listings for more candidate eyeballs otherwise no job platform will perform well if your jobs are at the bottom and not being seen.
• You snooze, you lose: If you find that rockstar candidate, what are you waiting for? Call them immediately to schedule an interview.  Set up a quick phone interview if that’s all you have time for – this will get the ball going and will definitely grab your candidate’s interest. The longer you wait, the more likely a competitor is calling on them too.
• You’re still delaying? Time is of the essence. After the phone interview, communicate the next steps clearly. Set up that in-person interview. As soon as you can. Candidates want to feel wanted, so you must make them feel wanted. Be sure to pre-arrange your hiring managers’ schedules to make interviewing happen faster.
• You have terrible post-interview follow-up: Why are you still delaying? You want to hire your candidate. Don’t wait. Make them an offer today. Your competitors could swoop in and make them an offer while you’re delaying.
• Your managers are holding you back: They aren’t getting back to you, they are stalling on the hiring decision, frankly, they are taking their sweet time. You need to speak to them. They are living in the stone age. But who is moving faster on these decisions? That’s right, your competitors. They’re making decisions and acting that same day. So you must also.

It all comes down to speed. Your competitors are moving faster than you. If you don’t speed up, you will lose your top candidates in ten days or less.

You like your candidate and you want the best. So what are you waiting for? Schedule a full round of interviews in one day and be prepared to make an offer that very same day. They’ll feel wanted and will want you back. You’ll grab that rockstar candidate before your competitors will even have a shot.

Have you ever contacted and scheduled a candidate for a full round of interviews and made an offer the same day? Are you a candidate that had a round of interviews and an offer in one day? If you have, we’d love to hear your story.

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The Sales Club specializes in jobs for salespeople (www.getsalesclub.com). It’s a sales job platform that recognizes the challenges job seekers face. We provide you with information that matters.Your resume goes directly into the hands of the employer – as if it were a warm referral. Please follow us on Linkedin.