timing & planning: getting your recruitment right!
It’s October! Start of the last quarter for 2023, spooky Halloween, and Christmas decorations are already on the shelves! It’s the home stretch of 2023, and an important time for planning your recruitment so you get the timing right.
Recruitment needs planning, and the time of year can be crucial. Yes, there can be quick appointments with one amazing candidate and done, they can start immediately. But this is not always the case, particularly at the more senior levels.
The timeline from starting the process to the appointed candidate walking through the door and commencing their role, ranges greatly from days to months. Typically, a recruitment process takes 5-8 weeks from starting to advertise and search, right through to the appointment of your preferred candidate.
The typical recruitment process covers these 8 steps over 5-8 weeks from start to finish.
consider these factors in your recruitment timeline:
Notice Periods
If a candidate is already employed, they will need to give notice to their current employer, which can be as little as a month - typical for mid-level Specialist and Manager roles -through to 3-6 months for those at the Executive Level.
Extra Leave & Plans
Now that COVID is well and truly over and travel has resumed, it is common for candidates to take a well-earned break to refresh before starting a new role. Or perhaps they already have a trip planned either immediately or in the future. This can extend their start date, and is another consideration to allow for when recruiting -not just over Christmas, but any time of the year.
Contingency Plans
Like any good plan, allowing for contingencies is important. You may go through the entire recruiting process, have your preferred candidate/s, and then they don’t accept the offer. There are a myriad of reasons that candidates go through the entire process, including being counter-offered, finding another opportunity, changing their mind, it’s not the right time, etc.
Candidates actively looking for opportunities are usually applying for several different roles at once. Employers are usually doing the same, considering several candidates at the same time to secure the best talent.
For each role, you only need one! However, that one candidate you want may not feel the match is 100%. If you get to the end of the process and offer the preferred candidate the role, but they don’t accept, you may need to review other candidates in the process OR start again, taking the process backwards by weeks.
Timing
Working backwards from when you need the person to start, can help with timing. However, if an employee gives one month’s notice, there will be a gap between them leaving and the new incumbent starting.
Below is a visual representation of how long the recruitment process - start to finish - can really take.
Christmas & New Year Period
Projects that we are currently working on are planned to be completed and appointed before Christmas, with the majority planned to commence in December or January / February 2024. Yes it is very close. And Yes, we have even negotiated offers, completed references and drafted advertising copy on Christmas Eve to get projects across the line! To have things neat and complete before the summer break! With many offices closing, and the majority of Gembridge’s clients on leave, it is a deadline to hit to avoid losing momentum.
The Gembridge team are currently completing projects and starting several new assignments in 2023, but depending on the requirements of the role, we will plan ahead and consider options to reach the desired results:
Start immediately to ideally appoint prior to the end of December (Merry Christmas to both Client & Candidate!)
Get everything ready to advertise over the December / January period, which can be excellent to capture talent who are reflecting on their goals and planning for a New Year, new career in 2024
Pause and wait until January 2024, knowing that candidates may not be commencing until March / April 2024
we’re here for you
If you would like to discuss any of the above timelines for your recruiting needs, reach out! We are very happy to chat through your requirements and timeframes to find your next “Gem”.
Call: 03 8375 9661 or Contact Us