As a business owner, or office manager, you are probably well aware of the stress having an open, unfilled position can cause. Not only does it take up your time and attention, but it also weighs heavily on your day-to-day operations and can cost you a lot of money and future business. When positions are left open, mistakes get made and services might not be delivered with the quality your customers have come to expect.

The smart thing to do is hire. Get a qualified candidate in the door immediately to fill your open position, so you can keep things running smoothly.

Unfortunately, this is often easier said than done. Finding the right person can be difficult at times. But, most importantly, once you do find them, you need to move fast or you risk losing them. Any delay in the hiring process could mean the difference between your business struggling or succeeding. Here’s what you need to know:

Job Seekers Are Looking for Work NOW

Most job applicants are looking for work now. They are sending out applications and responding to job ads, not only because they want to find their ideal position, but also because they need to find work and need to find it now. They’ve probably got bills to pay, a family to feed and are ready to move forward in the next step of their career.

While a few may be willing to go through a lengthy hiring process in order to secure their ideal position, you will lose most applicants if you wait too long before giving them an acceptable offer.

Put yourself in their shoes. Remember what it was like to look for work. You’ve got bills piling up and rent to pay. If you move applicants through the hiring process quickly, you’ll find a much greater level of success. You’ll also be able to rapidly weed out those applicants who don’t meet your standards and focus on those who do.

Remember, You’re Probably Not Their Only Option

Another thing to keep in mind when you’re interviewing job applicants is you’re probably not their only option. Most highly qualified candidates will be checking out more than one job opportunity and many will be fielding multiple offers. If you want to have any chance of getting a candidate to come work for you, you need to move quickly.

Don’t schedule in-person interviews weeks in advance. Schedule them right away. Get the person in the door as soon as possible. See if they are a good fit. Show them what sets your business apart from other opportunities they may be pursuing. Do what you can to get your company on the top of their list.

How Finalizing Offer Details During the Interview Process Can Help Move Things Along

Although you may have a set patter or specific questions you traditionally ask during an interview with a job applicant, don’t forget to get answers to the key "make or break" questions. Find out exactly what your job applicant needs and wants (in terms of salary, schedule, benefits, continued education, advancement options, etc.). Then, if you can meet their needs, you should give them an offer right then and there. Let them know you’re open to negotiation if need be. But, whatever you do, do it quickly before some other company hires them out from under you.

Quickly Doesn’t Mean Skipping Steps or Hiring a Non-Ideal Candidate

There’s a common misconception in hiring…some owners and hiring personnel believe moving quickly requires you skip steps in the hiring process or settle with a non-ideal candidate. Neither is true.

Moving quickly is all about going from one step in the hiring process to the next step and so on, without any unnecessary delay. You continue to do this until you’ve filled your open position.

It means scheduling an in-person interview immediately, not two weeks in advance, even if it might disrupt your "normal" schedule. It means sending an offer to a promising candidate right away, rather than waiting to interview other candidates, just to see if one of them might possibly work out better.

Use resumes to filter out those applicants you want to interview versus those you don’t. When you find a candidate, you think will fit into your work environment, get them into the office as soon as possible to confirm your thoughts. Then, follow up with an offer. It’s truly that simple. There’s no settling, there’s no skipping steps. You just need to move quickly.

You’re the one who originally placed the ad or hired the recruiter to fill your open position. So, fill it.

Seal the Deal and Do it Fast Before You Miss Out and Have to Start All Over Again

As I touched on above, one of the biggest mistakes owners and hiring managers make during the hiring process is not sealing the deal when they have the chance. If you even remotely think you have a good candidate among the variety of people who have applied for your open position, you need to hire them and do it now.

The last thing you want to do is lose your candidate to another company, who moved faster than you did, because they realized the talent they had in front of them. Trust me when I say this. In addition, you do not want to have to start the hiring process all over again because you didn’t move fast enough.

Don’t fret over whether you can offer more money than another company or better benefits. While money and benefits are important, there are other things candidates look for when job searching. If you know the person you’re interviewing meets your needs, and would fit right in with your existing staff, then find out what you could offer that would tip the scales in your favor. It could be continued education opportunities, room for advancement, flexibility of schedule or even proximity to where they live. Find out and do what you can to seal the deal. 

Filling Open Positions Fast Saves You Time and Money

I’m sure it’s no surprise to you, the faster you can fill an open position, the more time and money you will save. Let’s say you are down one physical therapist. Not only does this mean you can’t provide service to as many patients, it also means you could lose some long-term patients due to having fewer available appointments to meet their needs. So, your income will suffer.

In addition, when you have an open position, you need to spend time and money placing ads and conducting job interviews to get it filled. This eats into your normal schedule and routine, which means you won’t be able to do all the actions you were able to do before. An open position can also put added stress on your remaining staff. With one less PT, the remaining staff will likely have to try to cover the gaps in treatments until a new hire comes on board. This can become even more costly as time goes on. So, filling an open position fast saves you time and money.  

The People Link has been dedicated to helping companies fulfill their hiring needs for more than two decades. Our focus is on finding qualified applicants to fill open positions to the benefit of all. We work with both the Dental and Allied Healthcare industries. We have an extremely high success rate and we look forward to doing what we can to help get your open positions filled.

To inquire about our employer services and learn more about how we can help you with your hiring needs, visit The People Link online or call Mya directly at 818-890-9998.