The other day, a recruiter told me she needed to make a placement NOW.

She had an existing job order, plus a candidate she was ready to present her client. However, she was getting bogged down with the resume routine: Submit. Wait. Get feedback.

Did I have any suggestions?

Yes, actually. Why not schedule an EIO, or employer-in-office? Simply call the employer, and make the following suggestion:

“Mr. Employer, let’s get your position filled right away. Since we’re both in the same city, I’m going to schedule a block of time at my office. I’ll reserve a conference room, and arrange for you to interview four pre-screened, qualified candidates.

“Each interview will last about 30 minutes, and from the spectrum of talent, you can select the top two candidates for second interviews at your office, and offer the job to the best person.

“I’d like to schedule you for the middle of next week -- say Wednesday at one o’clock. Assuming you can arrange your second interviews the following week, we’ll have the position filled and a new person on board in less than 30 days. Does this sound like a plan?”

It surprises me how few recruiters use this strategy, particularly since 75 percent or more of EIOs lead to placements. If you work a local or regional market, I can’t think of any reason not to try this approach. Here are the advantages:

1. Increased odds. Since you control the candidate flow, you’ve got an edge on your competition.

2. Sense of urgency. By setting a schedule, you not only qualify the employer, you set a performance deadline for yourself.

3. Focus on results. Due to the streamlined nature of the EIO process, you can bypass the whole resume submittal trap that tends to drag out the placement process.

If you work a non-local or national market, see if you can set up a block of time for an employer to phone-screen several candidates on the same day, rather than spread the interviews days or even weeks apart. If you think it would help, offer to facilitate a teleconference or three-way call yourself. That way, you won’t suffer from missed connections or phone-tag frenzy.

And when finalists are brought in for their face-to-face interviews, try to arrange for all the candidates to meet with your client over a one or two-day period.

By batching your tasks and borrowing tactics from the employer-in-office concept, you’ll make more placements in far less time.