It is early June in the Commercial MEP and Customized Manufacturing world. You are actively fighting fires. Supply chains are bottlenecked, project timelines are shrinking, and your service board is completely red.
Right in the middle of this chaos, a recruiter hands you a stellar resume for that open Service Manager or Sales Director role you desperately need to fill.
You look at your calendar, sigh, and say: “They look great. Let’s schedule a phone screen for the end of next week, and bring them in for an in-person interview after the 4th of July.”
You just lost the candidate.
In the peak summer season, time doesn’t just kill deals—it absolutely annihilates recruitment. Top-tier professionals know their value, and they will not wait around while your internal hiring process drags on. If you are too busy to interview, your competitors are not.
Here is how to streamline your interview process during the summer rush without sacrificing your standards.
1. The Illusion of Candidate Patience
We often see employers project their own seasonal timeline onto the candidate.
- The Reality: Just because you are willing to wait three weeks to conduct an interview doesn’t mean the candidate is willing to wait three weeks to accept an offer. High-level Sales and Operations professionals usually have two to three active conversations happening simultaneously.
- The Fix: If you see a resume that fits your criteria, contact them within 48 hours. Speed signals that you value them and that your company operates with decisive urgency.
2. Implement the “Sprint” Interview
Dragging an interview process across four weeks with five different stakeholders is a luxury you do not have in June.
- The Strategy: Consolidate your steps. Instead of a phone screen, followed by a hiring manager interview the next week, followed by a VP interview two weeks later, utilize the “Sprint” method.
- The Action: Block out a single, two-hour window. Bring the candidate in (or on a video call) to meet the direct manager for the first hour, and have the VP or secondary stakeholder join for the second hour. You get all the required perspectives in one day, cutting weeks out of the timeline.
3. Lean on Your “Number Two”
If the VP of Sales or the General Manager is legitimately too buried to conduct an initial interview, do not pause the search.
- The Strategy: Delegate the initial technical and cultural screen to a trusted senior team member—a top-performing Senior Estimator or a veteran Account Manager.
- The Action: Empower them to filter out the bad fits so the executive team only spends their precious time talking to the finalists. This keeps the momentum going even when the C-suite is swamped.
The Bottom Line
You cannot pause your company’s growth just because the season is busy. The talent pool won’t wait for your schedule to clear up. Streamline your process, make decisive moves, and secure the leaders who will help carry the summer load.
Don’t have time to sift through resumes? That is exactly why we are here. At 2020 Search Partners, we handle the heavy lifting of sourcing and vetting. We only present you with candidates who are ready to perform, meaning you spend zero time on unqualified interviews. Contact Us to get started.