Avoiding Ambiguity in the Internal Hiring Process

Companies should leverage their own internal hiring process before incurring the higher costs associated with the placement services fee of an outside recruiting agency.   

Having been in those shoes, we know that the hiring team faces financial accountability and uncertainty about: How long should they post? Is this all they’re going to get? Should they choose one candidate and make an offer now?  Should they wait for more candidates to apply? Should they lower their job requirements to increase their pool?  Who to ask? And other similar concerns… 

As part of its relationship with its customers, GRN Mountain Point’s clients receive complimentary access and coaching on talent demographic intel not commonly available to others. Having clarity on the current pool of talent in their area; how many of those are likely to respond to their posting, and how many are not, allows our clients to eliminate the ambiguity to those questions above to determine precisely the “how, if, or when’s”. 

To illustrate this relationship, using a job posting for an Electrical Engineer with RF Power Transmission skills and 5 years of experience as a basis for an example, GRN would let our client know that, in the area, there are: 

1.7K+ Candidates with similar job titles or roles.  Of those, 230 may fit your requirements. And of those: 

Count Pool Profile / Remarks 
Active Most likely will respond to your job posting.  Typically, unemployed and getting notified of new job postings.  Typically, most of this pool of people is out of a job for a reason. Not top performers. First to be laid off, etc… There are exceptions, unemployed for undue reasons. Some diamonds here and there. Very motivated, flexible, and agreeable to any expectations they may not be qualified for. Hiring managers might need to devise “testing” procedures.  
20 Semi-Active Some of these will respond to your job posting.  Typically, employed but getting notified of new job postings Typically discontented at their place of work, or their company may be going through some changes.  If discontent is their motivation, there is a high risk that they will withdraw at the last minute when their company finds out and counteroffers to buy time.  Career level progression may be their driving motivation. Same counteroffer risk. Or, may accept your offer and leave soon after because of “greener grass” somewhere else. They can be picky, asking for special benefits, concessions, unrealistic compensation or accommodations… Often, over-selling their qualifications. Hiring managers might need to devise “testing” procedures.  
200+ Passive Likely, most of these will not see your job posting, but some might through personal networking.  This is the space where top performers reside. Typically, happy doing whatever they’re doing.  Not being distracted and not looking at all – might even ignore you when being approached.  You need to reach out to get to them. Some will react to the right carrot. This is the space where a placement agency can help to reach, screen, qualify and present candidates. 

Based on this demographic intel, our clients then decide on their starting strategy. A job posting approach is somewhat passive where the company waits for candidates to be attracted to their posting and apply.  Whereas some niche technical skills roles may produce a very small pool of candidates, a proactive reach-out campaign may be more appropriate.  90% or so, of our clients choose to start with their own job postings.   

Armed with this intel on the local talent pool, our clients can precisely define what to expect, adopt thresholds to determine when they have exhausted the pool of candidates that will respond to their job posting, and when to take appropriate action. In this example, GRN would recommend a threshold of about 32 candidates. 

If posting in LinkedIn for professional level positions, 80% of that threshold should be achieved within three weeks. Giving it another week just in case can be a good practice. Posting on other job boards typically takes longer and it’s not as predictable as their intel is limited to the active pool of candidates.  For trade level skilled talent, non-professional social media sometimes works very fast. 

If the pool threshold has not been reached by this time, then something about the selling points of the company, or the job requirements, or both, is preventing them from attracting basic candidates, and need to be revised. 

If the pool threshold has been reached, it’s time to make a decision: 

  • If they find acceptable talent within that pool, then there is no need to wait for more candidates and prolong the hiring activity.  Waiting will probably not get more qualified talent, but it does increase the risk of losing the ones that have been identified to someone else. 
  • If no acceptable talent is found, then they know that the ideal candidate they are looking for resides in the Passive pool and likely will not respond to their current approach. The client may decide to: 
  • make do with the pool of talent they have, if other risks are still acceptable. 
  • increase the geographical area of the search if time allows for another round. 
  • start a reach out campaign (more about this below). 

Up to this point, our clients use us as an extension of their roles as needed.  GRN MP provides complementary access and coaching to this basic intel and some AI fit assessment tools before or during their job posting in exchange of an honorary promise to give us a try if they decide to use out-of-house placement services.  

Our clients greatly appreciate this support as it eliminates ambiguity to how, if, and when to adjust their strategy to mitigate risks to their business operations.  They systematically control the hiring process, avoid delays, and avoid invoking formal recruiting agency’s placement services unnecessarily.   

At this stage: (5-6 weeks is a typical threshold of diminishing returns for an internal hiring process – an unfilled position is costing more to the company than an external recruiting placement fee would) 

  • If they find acceptable talent within that pool, then there is no need to wait for more candidates and prolong the hiring activity.  Waiting will probably not get more qualified talent, but it does increase the risk of losing the ones that have been identified to someone else. 
  • If no acceptable talent is found, then they know that the ideal candidate they are looking for resides in the Passive pool and likely will not respond to their current approach. The client may decide to: 
    • make do with the pool of talent they have, if other risks are still acceptable. 
    • increase the geographical area of the search if time allows for another round. 
    • start a reach out campaign (more about this below). 

Contact us to learn more about our capabilities, competitive pricing models, and flexible fee structures to accommodate different budgetary constraints. 

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