When I sold my last house our legal team at the time used a term 'of the essence'.  Of course I'd heard it before and probably used it but never appreciated it was a legal term with very strict meaning.  We use the same terminology in recruiting for our clients although perhaps not with the same legal ramifications however, we just came across an interesting survey and though that we would share some interesting stats with you that reflect this theme. The stats are quite enlightening: 47 per cent of job seekers have withdrawn from a recruitment process because it was taking too long 77 per cent of respondents believe that a full recruitment process should take less than one month 71 per cent of job seekers think they should only have to undertake two job interviews before receiving a job offer 46 per cent think they should only have to wait one to two days for a response to an application (Source - Robert Walters White Paper May 2011) The survey concludes that a slow response rate can lead candidates to view the organisation as disorganised or not placing enough importance on the role they are recruiting for, which creates negative sentiment around the employer brand and can lead candidates to decline a job offer. After what often is a very detailed recruitment process with a number of key members of the employer team giving up valuable time to meet prospective candidates we feel as frustrated as clients do when recruitment campaigns don't go to plan however it's well worth considering timescales before you embark on recruiting. Of course we understand that in this uncertain economic climate you cannot afford to make the wrong hire (and that's the last thing we would want you to do) but we regularly hear from clients that they have failed to secure their ideal marketing candidate because they have delayed the process due - they are often then left with re-starting the recruitment process which can be costly and ultimately they don't necessarily find another candidate who measures up to the original one. We'd never advocate rushing into a recruitment decision when you're not 100% about the candidate but if you do find the ideal candidate, try to ensure you don't put them off by dragging your heels. Julie Storey and Tom Fordham