Time to Hire: Everything You Need to Know
Time to hire measures the number of days from a candidate's job application response to their offer acceptance, serving as a crucial recruiting metric that helps HR managers identify inefficiencies and improve the hiring process, with average times varying widely by industry, role, and location—from 10 to 53 days according to Glassdoor data.
An efficient hiring process is tricky to achieve. On one end there is an urgency to fill a position but on the other, it takes time to hire a candidate who will meet your needs while fitting in with your team and company culture. Managing the recruitment process comes down to using recruiting metrics to analyze hiring times so managers can see what works and what needs improvement.
What is Time to Hire?
Time to hire is the number of days it takes to hire a new employee. It begins when a candidate responds to your job posting and ends when they accept an offer, spanning the length of time a candidate is in your talent pipeline. This metric is used by HR and hiring managers to develop an efficient recruiting strategy.
Why Does the Time to Hire Metric Matter?
Your time to hire metric can tell you a lot about your recruiting process and can reflect the candidate experience. It can identify pain points and inefficiencies that slow the process down. Consider these questions:
- How long does it take you to spot that you have the right candidate?
- How fast do you move when you find the right person?
- Where are the bottlenecks in your hiring process?
If you take too long to recognize and respond to candidates, the right candidate may decide not to accept an offer. Evaluating the data helps you see where improvements are needed.
An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) can automatically track your time to hire metric and offer reporting on time to hire by role or department. With this data, you can see which hiring managers or departments are taking longer. An ATS can also improve your time to hire.
What is the Average Time to Hire?
Time to hire fluctuates by industry, city, and role. According to a survey by Glassdoor, time to hire typically takes anywhere from 10 to 53 days. The process is longest for government sector jobs and shortest for restaurants, bars, and supermarkets. The city with the slowest hiring process was Washington D.C., while Kansas City had the fastest process. According to LinkedIn, the average time to hire is 30 days. SHRM puts that number higher at 36 days. Consider how your business measures up.
How to Measure Time to Hire
Time to hire measures the actual days from a candidate entering your talent pipeline to accepting an employment offer. This metric is used to develop hiring plans and set recruiter workloads. SHRM offers a tool that automatically calculates time to hire, but a spreadsheet works as well.
To find the Average Time to Hire, use your time to hire rates for the last month. For example, if in the last month you hired four employees at 14, 17, 25, and 30 days, your average time to hire is 21.5 days:
14 + 17 + 25 + 30 = 86 / 4 = 21.5
Time to Hire vs Time to Fill
Time to fill is another metric to consider when determining the efficiency of your hiring process. Time to fill is often used interchangeably with time to hire, but there is a distinction. Where time to hire starts when the candidate enters your talent pipeline, time to fill starts when the job is posted. Using the above example, time to fill would be 21 days.
Time to hire allows you to track inefficiencies in the application process that could harm the candidate experience, while time to fill provides a broader examination. For example, if it takes weeks for potential candidates to respond to your job listing, you could be posting in the wrong spot. A good ATS offers a variety of posting options from niche job boards to social media.
Time to fill can also pinpoint a lack of employer branding. Your employer branding should be clear and consistent. Candidates are less likely to apply if they’re unclear about the company and what it offers. A solid employer brand strategy considers how others view a company, including industry colleagues, competitors, customers, and current and potential employees. A job posting should cover pay and benefits, but also culture, perks, work-life balance, projects, and roles to reinforce your branding.
How Improving Time to Hire Helps with Other Recruiting Goals
Improving time to hire allows you to maximize the candidate experience and can impact other goals. If your company is looking to fill positions, a shorter time to hire helps get candidates on the job faster. By making your hiring process more efficient—shortening the time it takes to select candidates, set up interviews, and make offers—high quality candidates remain engaged.
An efficient recruiting process also saves time and money. The less time you spend targeting and recruiting, the more money you save. For example, if your time to hire is already up to 30 days and your top candidate declines your offer, the process starts over. Not every candidate will accept, but a shorter time to hire means you’re not out months of work.
Even with a short time to hire, compliance can still be met. A full-featured ATS will automatically track all applications, providing reports to maintain EEOC and AAP compliance. It also allows you to use candidate batching, which targets candidates based on pre-screening questions, so you don’t have to report on hundreds of candidates.
Making the decision to track and reduce your time to hire begins and ends with a great ATS. Arcoro’s ATS will simplify the hiring process by automating key functions like:
- Employer branding
- Job distribution
- Social recruiting
- Candidate management
- Compliance
- Reporting
It simplifies the process for administrators by giving them the ability to:
- Distribute open positions to job boards with one-click
- Reach local and national candidates
- Reach veterans and minorities easier
- Source reporting with analytics
- Create a strong employee brand
- Access EEO survey data
- Review unlimited candidates
- Schedule interviews
- Create quick offer letters
- Send assessments/tests
- Send background and drug screen prompts
- Post to niche job boards
Candidates remain engaged because the software allows them to:
- Apply to the position within minutes
- Parse their resumes
- Send in their resumes without a login
- Receive automated communications
See a demo of how HR technology can help your construction business.
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