The importance of making an offer quickly in a competitive market

We live in a fast-paced world. Technology is advancing at a cracking rate, our natural world is evolving and society is developing and progressing around us. We are told that slowing down is key to preserving our wellbeing but it’s not easy when we’re forever trying to keep up. At Oaklands Global we recruit top candidates for roles in the highly demanding and often stressful aviation industry. Although we encourage our staff and candidates to reduce workplace pressure by slowing down, there’s one aspect of the process where we simply cannot dilly dally. Offers to the best candidates must be made at the speed of light, and here’s why.

Due diligence takes time and our consultants take that aspect of the recruitment process extremely seriously, but they are becoming increasingly aware that ‘hire fast’ is the name of the game if you don’t want to risk losing top candidates. For highly competitive roles in dynamic markets, recruiters find they must let go of the way things used to be. They must prioritise trusting their gut and intuition over traditional cumbersome check-box processes.

Recruiters are aware that although candidates get excited about positions, the longer the offer letter takes, the more anxious they get and when the excitement wears off, they may start looking elsewhere. This need to expedite offers requires a degree of flexibility, especially in the case of an outstanding candidate that you don’t want to lose. You may need to offer a higher salary than originally planned, although this is not always possible.

If you find yourself in a battle for great talent, what else can you do to speed up your hiring processes?

Here are Oaklands Global’s top tips for making speedy offers:

• Have offer letters ready in advance and get them out quickly.
• Build your process for speed. Calendar availability of recruiters should enable speedy interview bookings. Block time for interviews and be ready and available for rescheduling, even after hours or early mornings.
• Agree on salary and other benefits quickly. Good candidates will typically have a good idea of their market value so this process should be seamless, even factoring negotiation time. In addition to financial benefits, encourage the candidate by expressing other advantages of accepting the role including an exciting company culture, professional development programs and flexible working.
• Be ready for a counteroffer. In a competitive market, it is not unusual for high calibre candidates to receive a counteroffer from their current employer.
• Offer a response time of 48 hours, only a little longer for senior or executive roles.

The hiring landscape has changed in line with every other aspect of the corporate world. Even 5 years ago recruiters would take their time to hire the best candidate with the most relevant experience. Sometimes it took days, weeks or even months to make a hire. This simply does not work in our whirlwind world. Time is no longer a luxury that we have.

The competitive landscape means that top candidates are hired in a matter of days or even hours to eliminate the chance of them accepting a role with another company. Things can also change at their current place of work, for example they may get promoted while they await your response and take themselves off the market.

Jobseekers feel frustrated by a prolonged recruitment process and that makes it more likely they will apply for roles elsewhere. Expedite your hiring process to win the race for talent acquisition.

On your marks, get set – go!