Apparently, Longer than 60 Minutes!
People want what they want when they want it (which just happens to be now), and working within a world of instant app downloads, immediate account access, and real-time data flow, people can not only satisfy this growing need for speed, they can actually get whatever it is that they’re looking for. But this high speed ‘this and that’ is affecting some areas of outsourcing that it shouldn’t – namely, the hiring process, and the consequences are hitting home.
What consequences?
It usually starts with people asking where to find(examples) reliable, cost effective solution outsourcing services with a relatively quick turnaround time. After getting a few leads, it typically ends with the same people complaining that after spending “a lot” of time communicating, like “a whole hour,” and after thinking they’ve found what they were looking for, it turns out they didn’t find it after all. They’re right back to the beginning of the process.
After an hour. After a whole excruciating accumulation of 60 painful minutes.
This is today’s timeframe in which some people actually expect to solidify an outsourcing contract. When you contrast this with offline hiring, you can get a sense of just how unrealistic that expectation is.
According to Susan M. Heathfield, About.com’s Human Resources Guide, “Just getting five or six people together to do an interview can take several weeks.” The more specialized the job, of course, the more time it takes to make the right hire. (Anyone with less than six to nine months of available thumb-twiddling time need not apply to the Secret Service.)
Online or off, vetting takes time, which is why experienced outsourcers implement a self-imposed hiring deadline that can span over three months or more.
Outsourcing Tools Facilitate Finding, Not Hiring
One of the key realizations outsourcers must face is that although some processes of online hiring may be accelerated through various tools (such as search engines and/or pre-qualifying forms), its decisions aren’t. Outsourcing tools make locating the right prospects easier and faster, but when it’s time to make the ultimate hiring decision, those tools have already served their purpose.
Candidates still need interviewing, samples still need reviewing, and references still need checking, Each and every vetting evil that exists requires its own attention if an outsourced project is to be successful.
Underestimate at Your Peril
What can worsen the situation is underestimating a project’s difficulty. We’ve seen more than a few outsourcers (1) diminish complex projects to “a simple job for the right person,” or, “an easy job for coders who know what they’re doing,” and then (2) attempt to lure experienced providers with these weakened job descriptions(examples).
Describing a job as easy or simple doesn’t make it so. Nor does it quicken the hiring process. It only furthers illusions about the real time and dedication that outsourcing requires.
Eliminate the 60 Minute Illusion
There are a number of things you can do to prevent the 60 minute illusion. The first? Ignore any story you’ve heard or read that suggests outsourcing through any online service will provide access to instant solutions. Through our own excitement, we’ve mistakenly suggested the easy hire is achievable via our Red Hot Recruiter program. To date, that has changed, and the software’s description now accurately reflects the reality described in this post.
Second, read our book, “Outsourcing Through RentACoder.” In that online outsourcing manual, you’ll find realistic strategies that lay down a path to realistic goals. But be forewarned! Implementing these strategies work, but they take much, much longer than an hour.
