Where is the Disconnect? The Paradox of Modern Hiring

Isn't it curious? While roughly 1.4-1.7 million people are being laid off monthly across the U.S., companies are still taking 42-50 days on average to fill professional roles—sometimes even 60-90 days for specialized positions. Despite all this talent potentially available, something's getting lost in translation. Let's explore this disconnect together.

The Reality of the Hiring Process

If you've been fortunate enough to avoid experiencing this disconnect, let me paint a picture of what typically happens:

A well-intentioned hiring manager gets the green light to bring someone new on board. Maybe the team is swamped with work, launching a new product, or preparing for upcoming retirements. They think about who's worked well on their team before, what skills they need, and perhaps dust off an old job description—or simply drop a quick note to HR asking to post the position.

Sometimes the salary range is already established, especially if they've hired similar roles recently. Other times, compensation discussions get pushed aside in the rush to fill the position. It's common for hiring managers and HR to operate on assumptions that worked in the past but might not align with today's rapidly changing market.

Then the position gets posted "online"—which could mean almost anywhere! The company website, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, a LinkedIn post... The options are endless, and where your job appears often depends on your company's budget and your HR team's experience with various platforms.

Learning as We Go: The Training Reality

Here's something we don't talk about enough: most hiring managers haven't received much formal training on how to hire effectively. Only about a third report getting structured guidance on interviewing techniques or candidate evaluation. Most of us learn by watching others or through trial and error—which isn't ideal when making such important decisions!

Think about it—we often assume that being good at our jobs means we'll be good at hiring for those same positions. We trust our instincts or "gut feelings" during interviews. We believe our personal experience being interviewed has prepared us to conduct interviews. And we often think our teams inherently understand what we're looking for without spelling it out.

Without realizing it, many of us gravitate toward candidates who remind us of successful past hires rather than objectively evaluating skills against our current needs. It's completely natural—but it might be limiting our talent pool when we need it most.

Two Common Challenges We All Face

When posting jobs, two things tend to happen:

1. Missing connections: Your job posting isn't finding its way to the right candidates because it's not where they're looking. Despite all those recent layoffs creating a pool of talented people, the connections just aren't happening.

2. Too many options: On the flip side, when we put significant resources behind advertising a position, we can find ourselves drowning in applications! Having too many choices can be just as paralyzing as having too few.

Eventually, the team narrows down to interviewing perhaps five candidates. But how did those particular five make the cut? What helps us ensure we're evaluating the right skills? And are we remembering that interviews go both ways—WE need to be impressive to candidates too!

A Thoughtful Way Forward

The heart of this disconnect is simple: even with millions of talented professionals looking for their next opportunity, many companies haven't developed the right approaches to find them and bring them aboard.

The good news? We can change this! By bringing the same care and strategy to hiring that we apply to other important business functions, we can create more successful outcomes. This means thoughtful interview processes, clear communication about what the role truly requires, and consistent ways to evaluate candidates.

For hiring managers, investing time in learning evidence-based selection methods and structured interviewing can make a world of difference. Companies that prioritize this kind of training typically fill positions 20-30% faster while finding candidates who are a better fit for their teams.

Not sure where to start? Here are some tips...

• Work with a seasoned Recruiter? Schedule a time to pick their brain. Ask them to sit in on your interviews and give them permission to give you feedback.
• Don't have access to a recruiter, find an agency or consulting firm and ask for help. Agencies like KE Talent offer self-guided interview trainings as well as one on one coaching for Hiring Teams.
• Follow some professional interviewers on LinkedIn. You might be surprised what you learn in the process.

Either way, become a more effective Hiring Manager will give you more control of the end outcome of who you hire and how quickly it happens.