A recent study by Shortlister has shown that 30% of people in the UK who were interviewed have accepted their second-choice job purely because their first choice took too long to get in contact with them after the interview.

The study also showed that the majority (70%) of responses felt that a week was a reasonable time frame to hear back from a prospective employer. However, per the study, the average amount of time that a company takes to respond is between 17 and 36 days.

This raises an important question about who is at fault here. Are the candidates being too impatient, or are the companies being too slow? The answer, as it is to most things, is a split between the two.

It is fair to say that the candidates who write off an application process after not hearing back in 7 days are rushing things a little. Especially those who are applying for higher tier jobs where the process can be rather long. However, most people reading this have probably been in the position where they internally accepted that an interview request or job offer wasn’t going to happen after not hearing anything for a while, only to be surprised by an email coming through in the next day or so.

So how can we solve this issue? The first part is easy, for candidates it’s simply a matter of being patient. If you are being pressured for an answer from your second choice, don’t be afraid to call and ask what is happening. Being proactive could even give you an upper hand if the decision is still being made. For companies, it can be slightly trickier. While it is tempting to just tell a hiring manager to hurry up, this isn’t always possible. A good idea would be to keep in contact with at least the main candidates that are being considered. A few follow up calls or questions should be enough to keep the candidate interested and even gives an opportunity to get a fresh perspective on how the candidate acts outside of a formal interview.

Of course, the easiest way to handle this issue is to have someone else do it all for you. A good recruitment agency will keep in contact with both the candidate and the employer throughout the recruitment process, making sure that a lack of communication will never be an issue. Get in touch today to see how Halecroft can help with all of your recruitment issues, communication-based or not.