In a cultural landscape in which people can now get almost any service on-demand and almost any item delivered to their door in two days or less (with free shipping!), it makes sense that the ethos of immediacy has trickled down to the job market.
And HR managers might want to take note.
A whopping 70% of job applicants will lose interest in the role they’ve applied for if they don’t hear back from their potential employer a week after their final interview, according to research conducted by the Addison Group, a professional staffing, consulting, and search firm.
“With the job market being as tight and competitive as it is, job seekers know that they will be snatched up by the next company if they don’t hear from another one in a timely manner,” Addison Group CEO Thomas B. Moran told CNBC Friday. “This is where speed and transparency are key. The faster you can secure a candidate or inform them of the expected timeline before they receive an offer, the better.”
According to the December report, 71% of 1000 surveyed job seekers are confident that they can find new employment quickly. How quickly? Well, 58% expect to secure a new job within three months of actively searching and 82% anticipate getting hired six months into the search. Furthermore, 49% of active job seekers only want to go through two rounds of interviews before getting the final word on whether or not they were hired.
A seven-day hiring window might seem like a big demand for most HR departments which, let’s face it, aren’t known for their speed. If hiring managers need more time, Moran told CNBC, “they need to relay that to candidates so that they don’t lose interest prematurely.”