How to Reduce Your Time-to-Hire by 50%
In today's competitive talent market, speed is everything. The best candidates are off the market in just 10 days. If your hiring process drags on for weeks, you're not just losing candidates—you're losing the war for talent. The good news is that you can drastically reduce your time-to-hire by focusing on one key area: the top of the funnel.
The Bottleneck at the Beginning
Most hiring delays don't happen during the interview stage; they happen during the initial screening. An open role can attract hundreds of applications, and manually sifting through each one to find the qualified 10% is a monumental task. This manual review process is the single biggest bottleneck in modern recruiting.
Three Levers to Pull for a Faster Hire
To accelerate your process, you need to be ruthless about where you spend your time. Here are three strategies that have the biggest impact:
- Define Knockout Criteria Upfront: Don't wait until the phone screen to discover a candidate lacks a non-negotiable skill. Clearly define these deal-breakers before you post the job.
- Automate Initial Screening: This is the most powerful lever you can pull. Use a tool to automatically screen for your knockout criteria. This ensures your time is only spent on candidates who have already passed a baseline qualification.
- Schedule Interviews Proactively: Once a candidate passes your automated screen, don't wait. Reach out immediately to schedule the next step. Momentum is key.
Automated Screening is Your Secret Weapon
Imagine a world where every resume that lands in your inbox is from someone you already know is qualified. That's the power of automated screening. By placing a simple skills quiz at the very front of your application process, you eliminate the manual review entirely.
Tools like Sift act as an application firewall. They ensure that only candidates who meet your minimum requirements can submit a full application, effectively cutting your screening time by up to 90%.
By automating the top of your funnel, you free up your time to focus on high-value activities like building relationships with top candidates and conducting meaningful interviews. That's how you reduce your time-to-hire and win the best talent.