When you make the decision to hire additional employees, it is critical that your hiring process is streamlined. When the best candidates start to look for opportunities in the industry, they have numerous options. Because of the shortage of workers in the construction industry during this time of increasing demand, candidates are receiving offers quickly.

As the construction industry continues booming, we are seeing that there is a growing amount of work and not enough candidates to satisfy demand. Fewer of today’s workers are joining the construction workforce. At the same time, greater numbers of seasoned construction professionals are retiring or have left the industry. For these reasons and more, the candidate pool is smaller. Therefore, if you wait too long to make a hiring decision, you will lose candidates to other employers.

The companies who have been most proactive and have already streamlined their hiring processes are the ones that are successfully hiring skilled and experienced candidates. Here are five suggestions for how your company can reduce the time period between the first interview and the hiring decision:

1. Conduct interviews as a group.

Instead of scheduling a series of one-on-one interviews on different dates, gather your managers, HR representatives, and other hiring authorities together to interview the candidate as a group or individually on the same date. This will reduce the total number of interviews and allow for a set time when all decision-makers can discuss candidates together instead of emailing or communicating back and forth.

2. Research compensation before the interview process begins.

Compensation rates are changing much more frequently today because of shifts in supply and demand. If you go into the interview process already knowing the fair market rate, and the range of what you can reasonably offer and comfortably afford, you can make competitive offers much faster. Also, know the candidate’s salary expectations going into this process so that you can decide if their expectations are realistic for your company.

3. Be ready to hire the moment you start interviewing.

In the past, construction companies could conduct interviews months before construction in order to line up crews for future projects. That is no longer the case. Make sure the project is a go and you are ready to hire immediately. If you are not ready to hire, then interviews may be a waste of your time. If you try to hire those interviewees three months later, you could find they are already working for someone else.

4. Make a faster offer on a contingency basis.

If you interview an impressive candidate with a resume that is filled with the exact skills and experience you are looking for, consider offering them a position contingent on the results of all required background and reference checks. You can still take the time to thoroughly vet that candidate after they have accepted your offer.

5. Notify the candidate the moment you decide to hire them.

If you interview someone you do want to hire, communicate this to the candidate immediately. The clock is ticking from the moment you conduct the first interview.

Though increased competition for candidates may require some additional work on the part of construction employers, keep in mind that this is a good problem for the industry to have. This means there is plenty of work, and the workers who are out there are energized by the resurgence of the industry. There are a lot of good people on the market. You may just need to work a little faster to get them on your team.