Two weeks from first interview to offer. Good engineers are in another process within two weeks of picking up the phone, and the ones you most want are the ones who get the other offer first.
The engineers who fill senior controls roles are employed and not looking. They took our call because something about the role or the timing was right, and they’re weighing it against a job they already have. Every week the process runs is a week for their current employer to make a counter, for another integrator to make an offer, or for the reason they picked up the phone to fade.
A process that works looks like this. A conversation with the hiring manager before anyone is approached, so the engineers we call are told the truth about the job. A first interview within a week of the shortlist landing, with the person the engineer would report to, not a screening call with someone who can’t answer their questions. Feedback within two days, in both directions. A second interview that includes something technical and something human, in the same week where possible. An offer within a few days of that, from someone who’s already agreed the number.
The things that slow it down are rarely the engineer. They’re a panel that can’t find a shared hour, a third round nobody can explain the purpose of, a budget sign off that starts after the final interview, and feedback that arrives as “we’re still deciding” for ten days. Each one is survivable. Together they’re why the role has been open since spring.
Feedback is the part most clients underrate. An engineer who hears nothing for a week assumes the answer is no and moves on. An engineer who hears “they liked you, second interview Thursday, here’s what they want to cover” stays in. We ask for feedback within a couple of days, not because we’re impatient, but because the engineer is.
One person who can say yes. Not a committee, not a process, not “we’ll need to run it past”. When the right engineer is at offer stage the client that can make the decision that day gets them, and the client that needs a meeting doesn’t.
