There
is good news for anyone wanting to move on from their current job in a hurry –
most employers are trying to speed up their recruitment processes after losing
good candidates to their competitors, according to research.
A
study in IRS Employment Review reveals that seven out of 10 employers are
dealing with applications faster than they used to, with one in four concerned
that good candidates are going elsewhere because they take too long to recruit
new staff.
The
findings, based on a survey of 250 HR departments, show that the public sector
is slower to fill vacancies than private sector companies. Just less than half
(48.7 per cent) of public service organisations can fill a vacancy in two to
three months, while just one in five (20.9 per cent) private sector firms takes
that long.
Indeed,
one in nine (11.6 per cent) jobs in the private sector is filled in less than a
month, compared with just 3.8 per cent in the public sector. Public sector
employers are also the least likely to acknowledge your job application – but
when they do, they are quicker off the mark, generally writing back within a
week.
Steps
taken to speed up the appointment process include:
–
Using the internet (56.8 per cent of employers)
–
Improving technology, including buying better database systems or upgrading to
broadband (37.7 per cent)
–
Devolving responsibility to line managers (31.7 per cent)
–
Introducing a screening process to weed out unsuitable candidates (29.3 per
cent)
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IRS
Employment Review managing editor, Mark Crail said: “This is a good time to be
looking for a job. The labour market is still very tight and good candidates
are hard to find. If you are the right person, you won’t be kept waiting.
Recruiters are in the business of finding the best candidate, and have proved
that they are not slow on the uptake.”
