So we’ve all heard the metaphorical story of the tortoise and the hare which is supposed to teach us that ‘slow and steady wins the race’ but if you’re involved in any form of recruitment then you should unlearn this ‘wisdom’ as soon as possible. Why? Because in recruitment the slowest recruiter often loses. Let’s dig into this concept further and you’ll see why:

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What does ‘speed’ in recruitment actually mean?

In a nutshell, it means moving with pace and minimizing the idle lag time between recruitment activities. Examples could be responding to job applicants within minutes, booking interviews for the next day, or presenting an offer to the top candidate on that same day as the hiring team has decided they’re the one. Basically, if there is a recruitment activity that you need to do, then do it ASAP.

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What ‘speed’ in recruitment DOESN’T mean (this one's important):

It doesn’t mean ‘rush’ the process. There can be a fine line between moving at pace and rushing the process so always make sure that you are giving the candidates and hiring teams the necessary space and time to make decisions (but not too much time!)

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What are the benefits of recruiting at speed?

-> You are the recruiter who is able to contact the best candidates first. For agency recruiters, this means you will get representation rights before your competitors, and internal recruiters are able to engage with top talent before they vanish off the market.

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-> You will be able to manage your workload better. Recruiters are often busy juggling multiple positions, candidates, and hiring managers all at the same time so the quicker you are able to complete your tasks then the less your workload will pile up.

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-> You will provide a good candidate experience. Put simply: candidates enjoy working with recruiters who are fast and responsive and will feel better about their experience with you and the organisation you are representing.

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-> You will reduce ‘cold feet’ factor. Have you ever heard the old adage ‘time kills all deals’? In my experience nothing is truer in recruitment and the faster you can move through the process with a candidate the less likely they are going to have second thoughts or time to explore other opportunities.

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->It shows that your company has its sh*t together. Related to candidate experience, providing a well-paced interview process reflects well not only on you as a recruiter, but also the company you are representing as it shows that you are organised and can make decisions which most candidates value highly and maybe the difference between them choosing your company or your competitor.

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How does texting improve recruitment speed?

Put simply: texting is the fastest and most effective way to communicate with candidates today. Messages are short and sharp and 98% of text messages are read compared to only 20% of emails (ask yourself: when was the last time you DIDN'T check a text message?!). Multiple studies show that candidates are up to 15 times more likely to respond to a recruiter's text message than an email, and those that do are likely to respond a whopping 60X faster!

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Editor's note: text messaging should be used with discretion and isn’t suitable for ALL communication with candidates as it will never replace a good ol’fashioned phone or zoom call (but it will help you set that call up quicker).

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Can you afford to be slow?

Give some thought to the lost opportunity costs of losing a top candidate to your competition because you moved too slowly throughout the recruitment process: agency recruiters will know how financially painful it is to lose a search, and understaffed teams and projects can cost businesses thousands, millions, or even billions of dollars in lost revenue.

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Keeyora as an investment:

For as little as $30 month for unlimited text recruiting, we firmly believe that you’ll find it incredibly difficult to find a piece of recruiting technology that provides better productivity for your team and has a higher return on investment. Don’t believe me? Our good friend Joel Cheesman from the Chad & Cheese podcast puts it like this:

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“If your recruitment consultants are still using their personal cell phones to text with candidates then they’re losing productivity and you are opening them up to all sorts of safety and compliance risks. Not to mention, you’re leaving revenue on the table as your competitors are using text recruiting software to win roles - the ROI of text recruiting software is unmatched in the staffing world”

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