Mary is backpacking through Europe for the summer. Scott just quit. And Josh went M.I.A. after the Patriots lost the Super Bowl. You need new workers today. Heck, you needed them yesterday.

Consequently, you’ve rearranged your day to fit in time to interview three applicants in a two-hour block. And you’ll be staying two hours late to make up for lost work time.

Sound familiar? Doesn’t it sting that much more when you’re waiting for applicants to show up for interviews... And waiting. And waiting. And no one shows up.

It’s frustrating, especially in the fast and furious hourly recruitment industry. But don’t worry, we’ve talked with some of America’s top hourly employers, and condensed the advice we received into these three expert tips. We hope it helps.

• Act fast: Odds are stellar job seekers are dangling more than one application out there. By contacting these superstars quickly and scheduling an interview for tomorrow instead of next week, you’ll make sure they’re not snatched up by an employer.

• Repetition: Not only do you want to repeat the date, time and place of the interview with the applicant over the phone more than once, but you should also call the day of the interview to confirm you’re still on.

• Give them an eject button: Many hourly workers are juggling school, family and other obligations. And sometimes stuff comes up. Make sure you let applicants know that if they can’t make it to the scheduled interview, calling you ahead to reschedule is totally fine. Not showing up and calling after the fact to apologize is not.

Learn more at http://www.snagajob.com/employer/