Businesses missing out on top talent due to interview time-lag warns Parity
~Businesses losing the best candidates as interviewees refusing to play the waiting game~
Parity, the Business and IT Services specialist, is warning IT companies against keeping potential recruits in the dark during the average two week time-lag in the recruitment process, or face missing out on the best employees.
According to Parity, some companies are not responding fast enough to job applications nor the follow up to interviews, forcing highly skilled workers - tired of waiting for an answer - to go elsewhere. In the worst-case scenario, potential employees could be snatched up by a rival company.
In the IT market, where some skilled workers are in short supply, recruiters can no longer afford to keep valuable candidates waiting. Companies can suffer from a negative image, spread by word of mouth from interviewees that were ignored or forgotten. This can have a detrimental effect on the company's perception by future applicants.
Parity believes the factors at play are simple but often overlooked, and offers the following six tips for best practice during the recruitment process:
•Plan the whole recruitment process carefully at the outset and agree interview schedules with agencies before releasing the requirement
•Acknowledge job applications within three days of receipt, either explaining that the candidate was not suitable for the position or progressing them onto the next stage of the interview process
•Ensure interviews are conducted within the following week
•On the day of the interview do not leave the interviewee waiting in reception for longer than 5 minutes - an interview is a two-way process and if the candidate does not feel valued, they may not accept the job
•Immediately after the interview, explain to the interviewee when they can expect to hear a decision from you on the position
•Call the interviewee, or the recruitment agency involved, as directed in point five, either giving them the good news or giving useful feedback as to why they didn't succeed this time.
"Companies are at risk of wasting valuable time and resources by having to repeat the recruitment process if they fail to make decisions quickly enough and the intended employee chooses not to wait around for an answer,” said Alan Rommel, Public Sector director at Parity Resources. “Keeping skilled applicants waiting on your decision is unfair on the individual and subsequently detrimental to your business. If skills go elsewhere in a market that is already tipped in favour of the skilled worker, the business will not be able to function at its optimum level."
"Employers must remove time delays and drastically improve the recruitment experience for the candidate if they want to win over potential recruits," Rommel concluded.
About Parity Group plc
Parity is a UK-based Business and IT Technology services organisation, delivering technical, resource and training solutions that contribute to the business transformation and economic performance of both private and public sector clients.
Parity's expertise in Project and Programme Management minimises business risk associated with systems implementation, integration or business change for our clients. As agents of change, we provide the skills, competencies and concepts necessary to improve business performance for IT enabled projects, programmes and change initiatives.
Having been established for over thirty years, Parity has developed deep industry and expertise in Finance, Utilities, Telecoms and the Public Sector delivering, people, skills and concepts for IT enabled projects and programmes throughout the UK.
Parity believes that better relationships deliver better results. Many of our current client relationships span more than ten years, and clients include; Barclays Bank, British American Tobacco, BT, Department for Constitutional Affairs, Department for Work and Pensions, HBOS, Ministry of Defence, Northern Ireland Electricity, Royal Bank of Scotland, Scottish Power, The Cabinet Office, The Charity Commission and the NHS.
Contact details: For more information contact Caroline Overholt (c.overholt@parity.net) or Luke Searle at ITPR (lukes@itpr.co.uk)