Your hiring process is slower than their patience

Startups love to say they move fast.

Then they take three weeks to book a second interview.

Employ has just put out its yearly recruiter survey, more than 1,200 US recruiters and hiring managers, and HR Dive has the numbers. One line stayed with me. People said friction and avoidable delays in the process are what make candidates drop off.

Avoidable. That is the word.

The same piece mentions a ManpowerGroup survey where about a quarter of people said time-to-hire got slower this year, not faster. With all the new tools.

So the bottleneck is not the software.

It is the calendar. The founder who wants to think about it over the weekend. The feedback sitting in someone's inbox. The extra round added because nobody wanted to be the one who decides.

Good people for early-stage roles rarely have only one conversation going. They will not wait while you get organised.

If you are hiring right now, try one thing. Put the interview slots in the calendar before the role goes live. Agree who makes the call, and by when.

Moving quickly is not rushing.

It is just respect for someone else's time.