Hiring: How to Find that “Special Someone” [infographic]

Love is in the air, or at least it is for those “special someones” this Valentine’s Day. As many people prepare to go on romantic dates, there are quite a few people who abhor this sweetheart-candies-and-Hershey’s-chocolate-kisses-filled day. But, before you brush off all that romanticism, wait a moment —there may be a thing or two you can learn from this holiday.

An infographic from SparkHire called Speed Dating and Interviewing: How to Find “The One” offers an interesting parallel between speed dating and finding the right hire. Perhaps you never imagined going on a speed date like many will this holiday, but using this approach during recruitment may just help your company “find love” in its next hire.

According to the infographic, a typical speed date lasts anywhere from 5-10 minutes. Yet, the traditional hiring process lasts anywhere between 6 to 8 weeks. Using online video can help employers make faster impressions because recruiters can watch up to 10 one-way interviews in the amount of time (30 seconds) it takes to complete one phone interview.

Like dating and failed marriages, interviewing doesn’t always lead to a successful hire. A wrong match in both aspects can be expensive with the average cost of divorce being $15,000 (contested) and $2,000 (Uncontested). And with a bad hire, the numbers are even higher. A bad hire costs 41 percent of companies $25,000 and 25 percent of companies $50,000. Ouch.

Also, when on the quest to find the perfect match, having a bigger candidate pool increases your chances of landing the right person. In speed dating, 90 percent of women and 70 percent of women who participate find at least one mutual match, while half off all speed daters end up marrying. In the recruitment world, 47 percent of recruiters say video interviews (similar to speed dating) shorten hiring time (or finding a match).