How to Build a Faster Hiring Process Without Compromising Candidate Quality

When it comes to talent recruitment, speed can be a competitive advantage. That’s all the more true for fields with notable talent shortages. But hastily filling a position may come at the expense of candidate quality, which ultimately leads to poor job performance or high turnover. 

According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) report, 75% of organisations struggled to fill roles with top talent, and they attribute this to a lack of skills (both technical and soft).

In such a situation, companies need to act fast or risk losing top candidates to competitors.

This guide explains how to make hiring faster while attracting top-tier talent.

Common Reasons Hiring Takes Too Long

The average time-to-fill has increased to 44 days as of 2024. There are a variety of factors contributing to this increase.  

• Unclear job requirements and descriptions: Job postings may fail to attract qualified applicants because the requirements are unclear. Candidates can’t tell what’s required, what’s preferred, or whether they’re a good fit.
• Too many selection rounds: Multiple testing and interview rounds are well-intentioned, but they can slow down the process. Plus, multiple individuals are involved in these processes, like a recruiter, a hiring manager, or a team lead, which creates communication silos. 
• Manual administrative work: Recruiting requires extensive coordination. Scheduling interviews, sending reminders, updating candidate statuses, collecting feedback, and following up with applicants can consume hours each week.
• Weak talent pipeline: Companies, especially large organisations, should maintain an active talent pipeline for critical roles. Starting the hiring process from scratch every time a position opens can significantly delay recruitment. 

How to Reduce Time to Hire While Also Improving Candidate Quality

The most effective way to reduce time-to-hire is to improve the structure of the hiring process. Every stage should have a clear purpose, owner, timeline, and decision criteria. 

Here are ways to address the issues causing delays and improve both the speed and outcomes of the hiring process: 

Write Clear, Targeted Job Descriptions

A job description should attract the right candidates and filter out the wrong ones. It should also be straightforward and concise. 

A good job description clearly states:

• Optimised job title (what the job is, seniority, on-site/remote)
• Job summary (a brief description of what the job entails and what the ideal candidate profile is like)
• Responsibilities (what the person will do, who they might report to, or what team/departments)
• Key requirements (must-haves like education, certifications, experience)
• Preferred qualifications or skills
• Compensation and benefits (if any)

Also, clearly explain the application process so candidates know how to apply. Ensure the descriptions aren’t too long or the process too complicated. One LiveCareer report found that 57% of applicants abandon applications midway because they become overwhelmed by the process.

Remove Unnecessary Hiring Friction

One of the fastest ways to reduce time-to-fill is to audit the hiring process for unnecessary friction. It’s all too common in large companies to have long hiring workflows, multiple selection rounds, and several stakeholders involved in the approvals. 

These friction points often become hiring bottlenecks. The process should be mapped out step by step and audited to remove any steps that cause delays and result in a poor candidate experience.

Build Structured Screening Criteria

Screening gets faster when recruiters use structured criteria tied to the role instead of vague judgment. A simple scorecard covering required skills, experience, and key competencies speeds up evaluation while leaving room to assess soft skills during interviews.

Streamline the Interview Process

Every interview stage should answer a specific question about the candidate. Ideally, one interview should be enough to answer all the questions. But if the role is complex, multiple interview rounds can be helpful.

That said, if a stage doesn’t meaningfully improve the hiring decision, it should be removed, combined, or redesigned.

Automate Scheduling and Candidate Communication

Scheduling is one of the easiest areas to improve. Recruitment tools can automate administrative tasks, reducing delays and speeding up the hiring process.

For instance, automated scheduling can allow candidates to choose from available interview slots, instead of going back and forth with an HR person.

Create Faster Feedback Deadlines

Hiring teams should treat interview feedback as time-sensitive. A simple rule, such as submitting feedback within 24 hours, can reduce delays. 

Feedback should also be helpful enough to enable quick, easy decision-making. Simply calling someone a ‘good candidate’ won’t cut it.

Short feedback forms or interview scorecards make it easier to capture key observations and support faster decisions.

Build and Maintain Talent Pools

A strong talent pool can dramatically reduce sourcing time. Create a database of applications and resumes to maintain a talent pool. This makes it easy to find potential candidates for when a new position opens or a current one goes vacant, without needing to post the job online. 

Talent pools shouldn’t be limited to past applicants. They should also include passive candidates, employee referrals, and alumni.

For senior operational leadership roles, companies often work with COO executive search firms to expand access to qualified executive talent and strengthen their leadership pipeline.

Conclusion

Speed in recruitment without compromising quality calls for a more intentional process. That means bottlenecks are actively addressed, communication and evaluations are structured and quick, and tools are used to automate time-consuming tasks. 

Start with an audit of the current hiring process to find out exactly what is causing the issues. Implement the recommendations in this guide to address those causes. And monitor for improvement using metrics like candidate drop-off rate, offer acceptance rate, and new-hire retention rate, in addition to, of course, time-to-hire.

Author bio: Jake Jorgovan is the COO of AAG, with vast experience as a creative strategist, industry analyst, and serial entrepreneur who thrives at the crossroads of business and creativity as a musician, visual artist, and creative technologist.