How many times has this happened to you? You receive a promising application for one of your open positions from a mid-20s recent graduate entering their first job, hungry for knowledge and impact. However promising this candidate may be, you have other responsibilities so it takes you a few days to get back to them and invite them for an interview. Unfortunately, the candidate shoots you a reply saying they have already been snatched up by a competitor. Sound familiar?

“The early bird catches the worm”  is a famous saying that is also applicable when it comes to recruiting millennials. Slow and multi-stage recruitment processes may give you more time to assess candidates and make a final decision. However, it may also run the risk of losing promising candidates to competitors in the process.

Here are 3 ways you can stop losing these promising candidates and speed up your recruitment process.

Automate your first contact

Technology has risen to the stage now that there is no need for you to copy-paste the same message to hundreds of candidates. Technology is helpful in the recruitment process when it lets you stop wasting your time on administrative tasks and focus yourself on the essential: finding the best candidate for the position. For more innovations in the recruitment field, check out this recent blog post.

Automating your first contact will also solve one of your problems: losing millennials in a slow recruitment process. Sending this first contact within a day of receiving the application lets the candidate know that you mean business.

Be transparent

Transparency in the workplace is vital for millennials, even in the hiring process. Setting expectations, being transparent with job requirements and recruitment timeline: these are all easy things to do that will drastically improve your millennial retention in the hiring process.

This is where outsourcing can be helpful. AIESEC’s partners portal allows for a transparent recruitment process both for young talent and companies. Check it out today!

Ditch the irrelevant, focus on the experience

With millennials, candidate experience matters more than anything. It is easy to view the interviewing process as a one-way street, where you are assessing the candidate.

However, the candidate is also using this as an opportunity to assess the organizational culture. The interview is a way for them to assess whether or not they would enjoy working for your company. This step is especially important for millennials who highly value workplace culture. Keep this in mind when designing the recruitment process and give chances to the candidate to chat with employees or check out the office. For more ideas on how to improve candidate experience, check out this recent blog post.

In conclusion, candidate experience is a hot topic that should be taken seriously when redesigning your recruitment process. The perfect recruitment process is a balancing; the key to success is wasting less time on irrelevant details and hooking the candidate on your organization.