You like your candidate. She’s great. She just sat across from you fielding interview questions during a twenty minute session, which turned into a forty-five minute session as the two of you chatted about industry news, shared pictures of your dogs, and compared travel notes from your respective trips to Argentina. She’s clearly pleasant and easy to get along with, and she has perfectly acceptable skill sets and experience levels in all the required areas. She’s the best candidate you’ve interviewed so far.

So….should you stop here? Or should you keep going, keep scheduling interviews, and keep holding out for something better? Before you decide to make her wait by the phone while you spend another week hedging you bets, ask yourself these five questions.

1. How much will it cost to prolong your search? Calculate this number in real dollars. Factor in the time you’re spending interviewing each candidate, the time your HR department spends reviewing more resumes, and the money you’re losing each day as this position stands empty.

2. Are you prepared to lose this candidate? Are you prepared to lose her to one of your top competitors? Every hour you delay your decision, you increase the odds that this will happen. If this will be no big loss to you, proceed. But if you’ll be left with lingering regrets, stop your search now and roll the dice. Whatever you do, don’t expect her to put her life on hold and refuse other offers while you drag your feet. Self-respecting candidates don’t do this.

3. Where do you stand in the marketplace in terms of workplace reputation? Are candidates fighting to get in your door? Or have they never even heard of your company? If you don’t know, now may be a good time to do some research and find out.

4. Where do you stand in the marketplace in terms of salary? If the salary and reputation you offer are far above the market average, feel free to hold out as long as you like. Search for perfection like Goldilocks and let go of every candidate who’s too tall, too short, too nice, not nice enough, under experienced, over experienced, etc, etc, etc. But if your salary and reputation are average, think twice. Hiring is like dating; overestimating what you have to offer can get you in trouble…and leave you dining at a table for one.

5. Have you prioritized your list of “must-haves”? If not, do so now. Of course you want a candidate who’s smart, well spoken, friendly, certified, affordable, etc, etc, but to avoid option paralysis, list each of these traits in order of priority. How many of the top five traits does your candidate have?

If you’ve answered the above questions and you still can’t seem to make a decision, get some outside guidance and perspective from the Texas staffing team at Expert. Hiring is a challenge, and the stakes are always high. Arrange a consultation and find out how we can help.