When I start thinking about the issue of time-to-hire, I contrast two very different approaches. The two approaches are the 1) corporate – we need someone yesterday approach and the 2) academic – it takes us a year to fill a position approach.
So, I thought I would reflect on the academic approach. The very people who do writing and research on hr – somehow we now take more than a year to hire someone and bring them into the organization. And sometimes even longer than a year. Now I realize, that is partially because the offer and acceptance is sometimes made 6 – 9 months ahead of time, but it still often takes us a long time between posting and offer. Why? I have no idea, which is why I guess I am ruminating on this particular issue. Why does it take academics so long to recruit and select faculty? Any ideas? Should it take us so long?
