Labor Day weekend this year was filled with hurricane preparation, as well as watching and waiting for all of us on the East Coast of Florida. The emphasis was on the “wait” as Dorian pummeled the Bahamas while moving one mile per hour before reaching a complete standstill. The wait was emotionally stressful to many and the memes were flying around social media.
Since last weekend, Dorian has slowly started moving again. Thankfully, it has been downgraded to a Category 2, and we are out of the cone of concern. Our energies are on prayers and provision for those not as fortunate, along with getting our lives and businesses together again. We made a donation to Samaritan’s purse, who already has a DC-8 loaded and ready to head to the Bahamas. We will also be listening to see what else we may do in the coming days for the those affected by the storm, both in the United States and Caribbean. If you can help through your selected charity, please do.
Hiring a new employee can have plenty of waiting times through the process:
- Waiting for applicants from your hiring source.
- Waiting for interviews.
- Waiting for candidates to accept.
- Waiting for new hires to start.
- Waiting for new hires to get up to speed.
Author Robert Jordan said, “Waiting turns men into bears in a barn and women into cats in a sack”. Don’t worry, I am a cat lover so don’t critique me for using an old-time quote. The point of the quote is that highly-rational humans make decisions they would not ordinarily make if they could control their anxiety while waiting.
Where do we as Career Matchmakers see unrealistic expectations from hiring managers in the hiring process?
Hiring Managers sometimes think we can produce candidates for the job they just called us about the day before. Despite our vast resources accumulated after twenty-five years of construction staffing, it does take time to produce the right matches. We need to connect with candidates, and ensure they have interest in the opportunity. Once that is ascertained, we need to verify qualifications, timing, and all the other details that need to match like salary, timing etc., so as to not waste time for either party. It is a process and a process well worth taking the time for to get the right long-term match.
One reason we at FLCC work with currently-employed professionals is because they have time to go through the process, and also tend to be more rational decision-makers.
Both impatient employers and unemployed candidates can lose focus during the process, which can cause things to go astray. The anxiety of waiting can be tormentous for some people. Psychologist Alicia Clark explains the concept well in her article The Anxiety of Waiting.”
Whether you are an employer or employee, in the hiring process here are a few tips to calm your anxiety during the wait times:
Set scheduled updates with anyone involved with helping with the hiring or with the interview process. This will reduce the anxiety of wondering if they are dedicating time to the process.
Use the time to prepare for an interview, new hire, new job, or whatever else you are waiting for with reading articles, documenting questions, researching about the other party, etc.
Spend time understanding more about what is important to you in the interview process.
Just as moving too fast can be detrimental, it can also be damaging to be too slow, as John Sullivan explains well in his “Top 12 Reasons Why Slow Hiring Severely Damages Recruiting and Business Results”.
What is the saying, “Good things come to those who wait”? When it comes to finding the right employer and employee match, it’s having a recipe, and following the recipe with proper timing for each step, without skipping or missing an ingredient. It will be the recipe for success.
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