When Is the Right Time to Hire a Candidate for Job?

Searching for and recruiting talent at the right time is critical for an organization to succeed. The job market is so competitive that companies should act quickly when they come across a candidate who meets their standards. However, over-hiring or delayed hiring can be a problem. Then when is the best time to make an offer of a job position to an excellent candidate? This article focuses on the major factors surrounding timing and how to hire required candidate for job. 

The Need for Timely Hiring

Hiring delays can occur for many reasons, such as multiple rounds of interviews, feedback delays, internal coordination problems, and so on. However, studies reveal that taking too much time to hire results in losing good candidates. According to recent research, more than 75% of job applicants lose interest in an opportunity if the hiring process lasts longer than a month. 

In the absence of qualified personnel, companies cannot afford such losses. When Taggd finds a potentially good candidate, it has to make the hiring decision quickly. A fast response to an offer accelerates the likelihood of recruiting qualified candidates before competitors onboard them. 

Signs That It’s the Right Moment

But haste in hiring can also lead to poor decision-making under pressure. Some judgment calls are needed to gauge if the conditions are right to make an offer. Here are some key indicators:

All hiring stakeholders are aligned:

Everyone involved in evaluating and selecting the candidate provides positive feedback and agrees they are the right choice. Differing opinions need to be reconciled before extending an offer.

Requirements are met:

The applicant has cleared all interview stages and meets the qualifications listed for the opening. Waiving any requirements could compromise hiring the best fit.

Cultural fit seems strong:

Beyond skills and experience, the applicant’s values and workstyle seem aligned with Taggd’s culture based on their interactions so far. This increases the long-term retention potential.

The applicant is interested:

The candidate is showing enthusiasm for the role by asking thoughtful questions, following up promptly, etc. Passive interest risks acceptances getting revoked later.

Budget approved:

Funds are committed for the compensation package to be offered. Onboarding new hires without budget approvals will create issues later.

• • If these conditions are met, it makes sense to make a hiring decision promptly when Taggd finds the right talent.

Acting Decisively

When a promising applicant emerges, Taggd needs to schedule next steps quickly rather than suddenly going silent on the candidate.

Promptly arranging final round interviews and clarifying outstanding aspects of the role or expectations from the applicant is important, even if an offer is not yet on the table. This shows continued interest in the candidate and that the process is moving forward actively.

Taggd should also define an intended target timeline for decision-making once the final interviews conclude. Setting expectations upfront reduces the chances of applicants losing patience because of an unexpectedly long waiting period after interviews.

• Extending the Offer

Once a decision to hire the applicant is made, Taggd needs to make the job offer without delay. In today’s market, skilled talent often has multiple options to consider. Being slow to extend an offer can result in losing good candidates to faster-moving competitors.

The job offer needs to contain all relevant details: role, compensation, benefits, start date, next steps, etc. This provides clarity to the hire candidates for job on what is being offered.

Importantly, the hiring team needs to make itself available to answer any questions the candidate may have and address any concerns about the offer. Being responsive and reassuring interested applicants is vital to increasing offer acceptance rates. 

Tracking Indicators Over Time 

Simply making assessments if a candidate seems potentially right at the end of the interview process alone may be insufficient in certain cases. Taggd should track applicant interest, responsiveness to queries, and consistency in performance over the entire recruitment cycle for key roles. 

Sudden last-minute withdrawals of accepted offers or instances like failing to join even after offer acceptance can leave teams scrambling to find backup options. But keeping tabs on engagement levels and eagerness across interactions over the weeks can provide early warning signs of potential dropouts. 

Securing critical positions 

For certain high-value specialist or leadership openings that are urgently needed to enable business-critical initiatives, Taggd simply cannot afford to lose shortlisted applicants because of delays in decision-making.

Even if multiple promising candidates are identified, Taggd may consider over-investing by hiring more than one through parallel offers as standby backups. While rarely ideal and operationally expensive, the tradeoff against jeopardizing strategic projects by leaving key positions vacant may still warrant such decisions in select cases.

Onboarding New Talent

Once the offer is accepted, the focus needs to be on promptly completing any necessary paperwork and onboarding activities. Advance paperwork can be done simultaneously while awaiting the applicant’s final acceptance. 

New hires often sustain the excitement and motivation they felt during interviews for short periods of time after offer acceptance. Taggd needs to capitalize on this by immersing new employees in their roles early. Delayed joining can diminish eagerness and performance once onboarding finally happens. 

Apart from processing paperwork, things like desk and technological setup, role and culture orientation, and introductions to the team need to be completed quickly. This allows new resources to become productive early on.

Following structured and streamlined onboarding processes allows Taggd teams to rapidly integrate qualified talent that is selected at the appropriate time based on hiring needs. 

Leveraging external expertise 

While Taggd aims to make sound hiring decisions, external expertise can provide a layer of quality assurance for mission-critical positions. Specialists like staffing firms or executive search consultants deeply understand role-specific hiring. 

Taggd could consider getting key shortlisted applicants independently evaluated by niche external experts before extending offers. While adding modest incremental costs, this assessment by seasoned consultants provides validation of candidate quality and risks being overlooked internally. 

Conclusion 

Hiring outstanding applicants Requires acting decisively when suitable candidates are identified. While rushing into hiring undermines selection quality, losing top talent to delayed decision-making can be equally detrimental. Leveraging indicators around stakeholder alignment, applicant quality, and interest while promptly acting to extend offers and onboard new hires is crucial. With India needing to equip over 400 million people with new-age skills by 2030, digital requirement platforms like Taggd must lead the way with timely and skilled hiring.