It might sound strange. And it's definitely not what most recruiters or perhaps previous experience will tell you.

It may well even be that the last thing you want to be doing is speaking to a recruiter when you haven't got a role - you spend enough time doing that whilst you are hiring.

But the single best time to make the changes your hiring process needs to put you ahead of your competition is when that can be your focus.

When you're not hiring. Not a vacancy in sight.

That way, you can focus 100% on:

- Candidate experience

- Positioning your EVP

- Reducing bias in your assessment process 

- Cutting your time to hire with a streamlined interview process 

- Planning how you will onboard your next hire effectively 

Once you've done that, the next time you hire things will be miles easier.

Saving you time and money whilst putting you ahead of all the other companies you're competing with.