If you happen to be in the middle of a job search at the moment, you may be suffering secondary symptoms of the employers’ complaint, LTTH or long time to hire. The recruitment process just seems to be dragging on endlessly and meanwhile you are tearing your hair out. What could possibly be taking these people so long? If it’s any consolation, however, it is hurting the employer every bit as much as it’s hurting you if not more so.

Long times to hire are the absolute bane of an employer’s life. Why? Because they cost him money! If you consider the fact that a manager is normally expected to generate revenue equal to around three to five times his own salary, even a single day being stuck with an unfilled vacancy will cost an employer considerably. Take, for example, a management role which involves a five day working week and pays $100,000 per year. The employer would be expecting a return of somewhere between around $1,200 and $2,000 per day in revenue that’s between $24,000 and $40,000 per month, and between $144,000 and $240,000 over a six month period. With those kinds of figures, why wouldn’t he want to get somebody in as quickly as possible?

As if the direct loss of income wasn’t enough to give him sleepless nights, this is only the tip of the iceberg. The productivity of the existing employees who are having to cover the vacancy also drops and, because they are not 100 per cent familiar with the vacant role, they take longer to get things done and make more mistakes all of which costs the employer even more money. Add to that the facts that there may be delays in getting new products on to the market (if indeed they can be introduced at all), the costs associated with the underutilization of company assets and equipment, and those related to the underperformance of the manager’s team, and Mr Employer is becoming undeniably desperate.

The average time to fill a vacant position usually runs at somewhere between 30 and 37 days, but if the employer is not particularly well-organized, it can take considerably longer. Even the mere fact of not having a job description for the role already prepared can slow things down tremendously, and in some organizations it’s simply a complex or bureaucratic recruitment system that can make all the difference.

While nobody expects you to get out the violins for the poor, harassed employer, especially not if you have just been laid off and your income has dried up completely, at least take solace in the fact that it is in everybody’s interest for the recruitment process to run as quickly and as smoothly as possible.

Wilson Chua
Integrity Career Transitions
info@integritycareertransitions.com
http://www.integritycareertransitions.com
750 South Shipyard Drive, Suite 300, Wilmington, Delaware 19801
Toll Free: 1-302-442-4100
Tel. No.: (302) 504-9960

[tags]career counseling, career transition[/tags]