When Do You Interview?
Jim Durbin at Recruiting.com throws an interesting idea into the mix. When is the best time to interview potential candidates? Even though it may not be the easiest model to implement, the idea is interesting. Here’s a snippet:
I have a radical idea that I dare hiring managers to implement. No more 8-5 interviews. 8-5 interviews are a sure sign that you aren’t interviewing the best people out there. Why? Because the best people are already working!...
Yes, the right candidate might be available and out of work, but if you only interview people from 8-5, you’re cutting off candidates who simply can’t take off to meet you. Employees might lie to their bosses about doctor’s appointments… [or] even skip out on important meetings or phone conferences to meet with you. Is that really the type of conduct you want to encourage in an employee?
My largest concern with this lies in that staffing and recruiting aren’t always about who is the very best, but who is the best available person.
In my company, we do not dig into companies seeking to harvest their best people in order to satisfy our other clients (while driving away existing or future ones). We work with consultants who first contact us (either by replying to a posted position or by keeping their resume public on one of the job boards).
What’s your take on this? When is the best time to interview potential clients, especially technical ones?
