Isn’t it great that we are able to get abroad on holiday again? After 2 years of uncertainty, cancelled travel plans and a fear of going too far from home, we are all making the most of this rediscovered freedom and getting away as much as possible! And why the hell not? We all very much deserve some R&R.

Personally, I couldn’t wait to get away, after a number of cancelled trips however, working in recruitment meant I had to ensure I had all contingency plans in place to keep things ticking over and I am very lucky that I have a wonderful team who all pitched in to support.

We live and breath recruitment here at Coyne, so we understand the importance of keeping things moving, especially as today’s market is one of the toughest that we as a company have ever experienced (in our many, many years of combined experience).

This is something we relay to our clients daily. If you want the role filled and to hire the best talent, you need to move as quickly as possible. Gone are the days when you can wait weeks between interviews.

So how has holiday season effected the recruitment cycle?

It has been extremely difficult, and not just for the reasons mentioned before. Recruitment isn’t always everyone’s number one priority when doing their holiday handover so it often gets pushed aside and unfortunately, this means that many candidates are lost to competitors. Not only this but the vacancy remains open, someone else is picking up the workload and it has an overall cost to the company. Time is money.

Once a candidate has made the decision to leave their current position, that is it, their mind is made up. They are ready for a fresh start and they do not want to hang about. It is a candidate driven market at the moment. Each candidate is usually presented with several opportunities and ultimately at least 2 job offers.

In June and July alone, we saw too many of our clients lose out on candidates who they knew were right for them because the recruitment process was too long due to annual leave. Now, I am not saying hiring managers must not go on holiday or they will never get staff, instead, if you are going on annual leave but you are also half way through a recruitment process, plan and make adjustments to ensure things are kept moving! A candidate may really want your role but has to wait 2 weeks for you to come back from holiday, in the meantime they have been offered another opportunity. They cannot hold off on accepting that offer because they don’t even know whether they will get your job! It is a real shame that we have seen so many candidates turn down their ideal job for fear of ending up with nothing. It doesn’t matter how much we consult and coach, there is not much we can do without guarantees.

​So here are some best practice tips for keeping things going whilst you are on annual leave:

Where possible minimize the recruitment process. If it is usually three stages, reduce it to two by combining two stages to make one.

1. If the second stage happens whilst you are away, try to have an initial call with the candidate to keep them warm and also gauge your thoughts on them before trusting one of your team with the rest of the process. A colleague, a manager, or director – they are all more than capable of making judgement.
2. If an excellent candidate lands on your desk a week before you go, try and find the time to accommodate – evening or morning interviews, teams calls around their schedules.
3. If you see a candidate that you know is great and can add a lot to your team, make them an offer! Do not hang about for more candidates to compare them to! They will not wait around. The way they see it, if you really want them and value them you will take them on – if you don’t want them, someone else will.

So like anything else, it just means a bit of planning. Failing to plan not only costs your company more money as vacant roles are pricey, but it also means you are coming home to undue stress which could easily be alleviated, and a potential new team member who will make your life a lot easier! If you work with us we can advise and support and take on some of the interview responsibility to lighten the load for you.