Bryony Gibson, director of Bryony Gibson Consulting, talks about the growth of online recruitment processes and the power of an old fashioned conversation.
Once upon a time, recruitment was ‘relatively’ straightforward. A CV came in, someone picked up the phone, a conversation happened, and if there was interest on both sides, a meeting followed.
Decisions were made quickly, based on experience, education, cultural fit, and human connection. Today, finding a new job can feel more like tackling an obstacle course.
Across the recruitment market, processes increasingly stretch over weeks, sometimes months. With multiple interview stages, delays between meetings, online tests, and long periods of silence while “feedback is reviewed”.
In some cases, people are being asked to repeat the same conversations with different stakeholders, all assessing the same thing. And in a candidate-short market, that approach doesn’t work.
Good People Won’t Wait
The reality is that good, skilled people are not available for long. When it comes to accountants, tax specialists, and audit professionals, many have multiple opportunities in front of them at once. So, if a process drags, they move on.
What’s also concerning for the firms recruiting is the impression they unintentionally create during the process. Hiring has naturally become far more process-driven. Applications arrive from multiple sources. Recruiters are managing larger volumes of information, and technology plays a significant role in filtering and coordinating their activity. But, where culture, Bryony Gibson trust and long-term fit matter there is still huge value in simply having a conversation early in the process.
The problem that internal recruitment teams often have is managing external recruiters, LinkedIn applications, employee referrals, outsourced screening providers, and overseas processing centres, all for a single hire. And the result can be a drawn-out, impersonal experience for the candidate.
What is often forgotten is that recruitment is the first direct interaction most people have with a company’s culture. If the process feels slow, disorganised or overly bureaucratic, they naturally start to question what working there might feel like.
Of course, businesses need to make the right hiring decisions. That’s crucial, and sometimes it does take time. But somewhere along the way, we have started to confuse “thorough” with “complicated”.
Do we need four or five interview stages?
In most cases, experienced hiring managers know quickly whether a candidate has the technical capability and personality to succeed in their team. Yet many businesses seem determined to push recruitment further and further into portals, automated screening questions, and lengthy online processes that strip away the very thing that helps people make good hiring decisions in the first place: human judgment.
From my experience, not every strong candidate appears perfectly on paper. Not every good hire emerges from a keyword search or an applicant tracking system. Sometimes the best recruitment decisions still come from a chance conversation, a meeting, a referral, or simply getting a feel for someone’s ambition, attitude, and potential.
Technology absolutely has a role to play, but it should support conversations, not replace them.
The firms attracting the best people right now are the ones keeping things simplest. Quick response times, clear communication, and one or two well-structured interviews, all with direct access to decision-makers.
The people you hire determine your business success, and a big proportion of that depends on them working well together.
In a competitive recruitment market, those who move quickly, with clarity, and who prioritise real conversations will continue to stand out.