Here in the Select team we are finding the time taken by employers to recruit can vary hugely, with some taking just a few exciting and nerve racking weeks, while others take several long and laborious months between sign off and offer stages.
Here are a few tips to get you through those longer processes:
Devote your time accordingly
Some processes are requiring potential employees to attend a higher number of interviews than in recent years and so continuously taking time out of your working day can become difficult and awkward with your current employer. To ease this strain be flexible with your time - early morning, late evening, and even weekend interviews are becoming increasingly popular and offer a more subtle and less hectic process. If you are working with a consultant let them know all of your availability – not just during lunch hours or when you might be able to slip away without being seen.
Be honest with yourself when applying for roles
Why are you applying for this role?
Will it offer you what your current role doesn’t?
Is the organisation of genuine interest?
Do you have the required experience and personality?
What will this role do for your career?
All questions you should ask yourself before entering into any job process. Don’t give away your time for a role that you’ll end up not wanting. This is not always foreseeable but with those roles that you know deep down are a long shot, think whether they are genuinely worth your time and effort in the long run.
Keep your consultant updated
If you have an offer on the table but have other interviews or offers in waiting then let your consultant/HR contact know. This will not act against you in any way, everyone understands that in the current market job seekers must be flexible with roles and sectors and cannot turn down opportunities for the sake of a possible interview elsewhere. It will instead give them definite time frames to offer their clients and if there is a genuine interest in you for the job they can move accordingly. Be upfront and honest – it will normally make the process more straight forward for all concerned and won’t jeopardise other opportunities.
Don’t take it personally
Even when employers think they have found the perfect person, more often than not they want to see comparisons to confirm their thinking. No organisation is in a position where they can move on gut instinct and must justify all recruits with a sounds and comprehensive search of the market. Some people take this personally and feel it is a reflection of their experience or personality – ‘if I’m perfect for the role then why don’t they just make me an offer?’
Relax. Take the time while they’re completing other interviews to explore the organisation further, think about how you would approach the role in the first 6-12 months, any questions or areas of concern you have, and decide upon a realistic offer that you would accept. With these preparations underway, if and when the offer comes through you will be in control of how rapidly the process is completed.
Image credit: davebowman on Flickr
