"Time Kills Deals” and Your Candidate’s Interest

"Time Kills Deals” and Your Candidate’s Interest.

An old recruitment maxim but never more true than in 2025.

I’ve worked on hiring cycles that stretched over a year for rare, exceptional talent. But for most startup roles, speed is critical.

If a candidate has multiple processes on the go (it’s almost certain they will these days) you have to be aware of other process timings, but more than that it comes down to;

- A reflection of your company - you can’t say “we’re a fast moving startup, we move fast and release daily” and then move slowly in a hiring process…

- A reflection of Hiring Intent - are you enthusiastic about this person? Does it seem like you might want to hire them or are you just filling a hiring pipeline? Especially once you get into the mid to later stages in a process - make them feel personally wanted


Imagine two scenarios;


Company A
🔹 Takes 1 month to pass you through 4 interview stages - you get on well with the team, like the product etc. but you’re left with a slightly sour taste about the time it took to get there.
🔹 The whole process has demonstrated a lack of urgency, and a few nagging questions have been spinning around in your head over the last few weeks;
🔹 Did they speak to other candidates who rejected their offer and that’s why it’s been so slow? If so why did they reject them? Am I missing something?
🔹 Are they just not that interested in me? Am I a backup for someone they really want / wanted to hire?
🔹 Will the final offer be a lowball because they’re not sure about me?
🔹 What did I do wrong - will I be a bad fit for them, maybe they’re right to be hesitant to make an offer, it seems like they’re not sure about me - should I be unsure about them too?


Company B
🔹 You submit your CV on Monday morning, by the afternoon the first interview is scheduled for Tuesday.
🔹 Immediately after Tuesday's interview you’re scheduled into the 2nd stage - the team has made time for you Wednesday evening after work for a Technical interview.
🔹 All goes well on Wednesday and you now have an onsite interview scheduled for Thursday and a meeting with the founder pencilled in for Friday incase all goes well on the onsite.
🔹 It goes great, you get a good feeling about everyone you’ve met and enjoyed the technical work - you’ve worked on a real problem the company is solving right now.
🔹 On Friday the founder makes you an offer to join the company.
🔹 The momentum and enthusiasm has made you feel like they want you to be a part of the team.
🔹You feel like this is an efficient company and the founder is decisive which gives you confidence they will achieve their mission vs the company that took 4 weeks to complete the same length process.


All other factors being equal, which one are you more likely to choose?