Seasonal Hiring Is Moving Fast. Do Not Lower the Standard.

Seasonal hiring creates a familiar problem. Managers need people quickly, but the cost of a rushed decision can show up as missed shifts, customer complaints, safety problems, avoidable turnover, or another vacancy before the season is over.

The answer is not to make the process longer. It is to make every step earn its place.

The seasonal hiring funnel is getting tighter

On October 8, ICIMS reported that frontline applications ended September 18% below its baseline. Retail time to fill remained at 37 days. Applicants ages 18 to 24 represented 40% of retail applicants, up from 37% a year earlier.

Those figures come from ICIMS proprietary platform data. They do not describe every employer or labor market. They do provide a useful warning: employers with slow communication and unnecessary approval steps have less room to waste qualified candidates.

The scale of seasonal demand is also real. Reuters reported on October 7 that UPS planned to hire 100,000 seasonal employees across the United States. Most organizations are not hiring at that volume, but many are competing for the same frontline applicants.

Speed matters. So does knowing what you are speeding toward.

Cut waiting time before you cut a hiring step

Most hiring delays are not caused by the interview itself. They come from applications sitting untouched, managers waiting for approval, candidates receiving unclear instructions, and decision-makers trying to schedule one more meeting.

Map the process from application to offer. Write down how long a qualified candidate normally waits at each point. Then remove idle time first.

• Assign one person to own each open position.
• Acknowledge applications quickly and state the next step.
• Set interview blocks before recruiting begins.
• Give managers one consistent scorecard.
• Define who can approve an offer and when that person is available.
• Tell candidates promptly when the process is complete.

A process can be fast and still be careful. What it cannot afford to be is unclear.

Define the real job before you start screening

A seasonal job description often says more about the department than the work. Managers need a shorter, more practical standard.

Identify the conditions that determine whether the employee can succeed:

• The days, hours, attendance expectations, and expected length of the assignment.
• The essential physical and environmental requirements, stated accurately and with appropriate accommodation language.
• The procedures the employee must follow even when volume increases.
• The customer, inventory, cash, equipment, or data responsibilities attached to the role.
• The behaviors supervisors will observe during the first 30 days.

Give candidates a realistic preview. If the shift starts at 5:00 a.m., say it. If weekend availability is essential, say it. If the work involves a noisy distribution floor or continuous customer contact, explain that before the offer.

Clear information may cause some applicants to withdraw. That is better than learning the same thing after onboarding.

Where Step One Survey II fits

Step One Survey II® is a brief pre-employment assessment designed for early applicant screening. It examines attitudes related to integrity, reliability, work ethic, and substance abuse when that scale is applicable and legally permitted.

Most applicants complete it in approximately 20 minutes. Managers receive a Quick Check Report and an Interview Report with structured follow-up topics and possible response inconsistencies.

That can be useful in high-volume hiring because it gives managers a consistent place to focus the next conversation. It can help an employer ask better questions before investing more time in the process.

It does not prove that an applicant is honest or predict future conduct. It is not a background check, drug test, polygraph, or clinical assessment. The publisher recommends it for applicants, not active employees. It should not make the hiring decision by itself.

The substance-abuse scale requires location-specific legal review and can be removed when necessary. Employers should review the role, location, configuration, accommodations, and complete selection process with appropriate HR and legal guidance.

Use the report to improve the interview

The value of an early screen is not the speed of producing a score. The value is what the manager does next.

Ask every candidate for the same role the same core, job-related questions. Use the report to identify lawful follow-up topics, then document what the candidate actually says.

These examples still need to be matched to the job. Do not ask candidates to disclose medical conditions, prescriptions, disabilities, or other protected information. Keep the questions tied to work behavior and the requirements of the position.

Build one fast, consistent path

A practical seasonal hiring process can be simple:

1. Confirm the basics. Review availability, location, pay, duration, and essential job requirements.
2. Give the realistic preview. Explain the work, schedule, environment, and performance expectations.
3. Use the applicant screen consistently. If Step One Survey II is appropriate, place it at the same point for comparable applicants.
4. Run a structured interview. Ask the same core questions and document the evidence.
5. Complete required checks. Follow applicable law and company policy for references, background checks, drug testing, or other job-related requirements.
6. Decide and communicate. Make the decision when the evidence is complete. Do not leave qualified candidates waiting because nobody owns the next step.

Set internal response targets that fit your operation. A fast process is only useful if managers actually follow it.

Measure the first 30 days, not just time to hire

Time to hire tells you whether the process moved. It does not tell you whether the decision worked.

Track a small set of measures for each seasonal role:

• Time from application to first contact.
• Time spent in each hiring stage.
• Assessment and interview completion rates.
• Offer acceptance and first-day arrival.
• Attendance and supervisor-rated performance during the first 30 days.
• Retention through the intended assignment.

Compare similar roles, locations, and shifts. Do not attribute every result to the assessment. Pay, scheduling, supervision, workload, onboarding, transportation, and labor supply can all affect seasonal retention.

The TAC turnover calculator can help estimate the financial scale of departures. It does not diagnose the cause. Use it to decide where a deeper review is worth the effort.

Keep the process job-related and consistent

EEOC guidance on employment tests and selection procedures makes clear that employers remain responsible for how a selection process is used. A vendor, score, or fast-moving hiring season does not remove that responsibility.

Use consistent administration and job-related criteria. Arrange reasonable accommodations. Review results and outcomes for potential adverse impact. State and local rules may add requirements beyond federal guidance.

The goal is not to add friction. The goal is to make a faster decision with evidence you can explain.

Start with one high-volume role

At The Assessment Company®, we help employers connect screening and assessment information to the work they need people to do.

Bring us one seasonal or high-volume role, the number of people you need, and the point where candidates are dropping out. We can help determine whether Step One Survey II fits the decision and where it belongs in the process.

Discuss your high-volume hiring process or call 1-800-434-2630.