How to Calculate Time to Hire and Improve Your Recruitment Process?

Calculating your Time to Hire—the number of days from when a candidate enters your pipeline to when they accept an offer—is a critical recruitment KPI (Key Performance Indicator) that directly impacts cost-per-hire and candidate experience. Accurately tracking this metric empowers you to identify bottlenecks and streamline your hiring workflow for greater efficiency.

What is Time to Hire and Why Does It Matter?

Time to Hire is a fundamental recruitment metric that measures the efficiency of your selection process. It starts when a candidate applies for a role or enters your active candidate pool and ends when they formally accept your job offer. A prolonged Time to Hire can lead to several negative outcomes, including the loss of top talent to competitors, increased recruitment costs, and a poor candidate experience that damages your employer branding. By monitoring this metric, you gain data-driven insights into the effectiveness of each stage, from application screening to final interview. This allows you to make strategic adjustments, such as reducing interview rounds or improving communication speed, to secure the best candidates faster.

How Do You Calculate Time to Hire for a Single Candidate?

To calculate Time to Hire, you need to track specific dates within your Applicant Tracking System (ATS). The process is straightforward when you have clear start and end points.

1. Identify the Application Date: Log in to your ATS and locate the candidate's profile. The official start date is the moment they submitted their application or were formally entered into your system as a prospect for the specific role.
2. Locate the Offer Acceptance Date: Navigate to the candidate’s profile history to find the exact date they signed and returned the job offer letter. This is your end point.
3. Perform the Calculation: Subtract the application date from the offer acceptance date. The result is the Time to Hire for that individual.

For example:

• Offer Accepted: June 25, 2024
• Application Submitted: May 28, 2024
• Time to Hire: 28 days

How Do You Calculate an Average Time to Hire for a Role or Department?

While individual candidate data is useful, the real strategic value comes from analyzing averages over time. This provides a clearer picture of your overall recruitment health. To calculate the average Time to Hire for a specific role or across a department over a quarter, follow these steps:

1. Gather Data for All Hires: Compile a list of all candidates successfully hired for the role or within the department during your chosen timeframe (e.g., Q1 2024).
2. Calculate Individual Time to Hire: Use the method above to determine the Time to Hire for each candidate on your list.
3. Sum the Total Days: Add together the Time to Hire (in days) for every candidate.
4. Divide by the Number of Hires: Take the total number of days and divide it by the total number of candidates hired.

The table below illustrates a sample calculation for three hires in a quarter:

What Are the Best Practices for Reducing Time to Hire?

Based on our assessment experience, a lengthy hiring process is often a symptom of internal inefficiencies. Improving your Time to Hire requires a proactive and streamlined approach. Here are several actionable strategies:

• Optimize Your Career Page and Job Descriptions: Clear, concise, and compelling job posts attract more qualified applicants, reducing time spent on initial candidate screening.
• Leverage an ATS with Automation: Use technology to automate resume screening, interview scheduling, and communication. This frees up recruiter time and accelerates the process.
• Implement a Structured Interview Process: Standardize interview questions and scoring rubrics for each role. This reduces subjective decision-making and helps teams evaluate candidates more quickly and fairly.
• Improve Internal Collaboration: Ensure hiring managers and interview panels are aligned on timelines and feedback deadlines. Slow internal feedback is a common bottleneck.
• Conduct Pre-emptive Reference Checks: Consider performing reference checks after the final interview stage but before the formal offer, shaving days off your timeline.

To effectively manage your recruitment funnel, start by consistently tracking your Time to Hire metric. Use your ATS to generate regular reports, benchmark your averages against industry standards, and focus on simplifying stages where candidates stall. A faster, more efficient hiring process not only saves money but also positions your company as a decisive and attractive employer.