Glossary
Candidate funnel
A candidate funnel is the sequence of stages applicants move through in a hiring process, from first seeing a job to accepting an offer, measured by how many people reach each stage.
A funnel turns a hiring process into numbers you can act on. Every stage loses people. Some losses are the process working as intended. Others are problems you can fix.
A worked example
Assume one role, with made-up numbers for illustration:
| Stage | People | Conversion from previous stage |
|---|---|---|
| Viewed the job post | 2,000 | — |
| Applied | 300 | 15% |
| Started the first-round interview | 180 | 60% |
| Completed it | 140 | 78% |
| Passed screening | 45 | 32% |
| Shortlisted | 10 | 22% |
| Offer accepted | 2 | 20% |
Reading it
- Applied to started (60%). Four in ten applicants never began the first round. That’s a large drop worth investigating. Was the invite clear? Did it arrive quickly? Did it work on a phone?
- Started to completed (78%). People who begin mostly finish. If this were much lower, the interview might be too long or have technical problems.
- Completed to passed (32%). This is the screen doing its job. If it’s very low, your job post may be attracting the wrong people, or your bar may be too high.
- Shortlisted to accepted (20%). Late-stage losses are the most expensive. Look at speed, pay and how candidates are treated in later rounds.
What to measure first
If you track nothing today, start with three numbers: how many applied, how many completed the first round, and how many were shortlisted. That already shows whether the problem is attracting people, keeping them, or finding the right ones.
Pitfalls
- Comparing different roles. A warehouse role and a data analyst role will have very different funnels. Compare a role with itself over time.
- Optimizing the wrong number. Raising the pass rate by lowering the bar looks good on the chart and does nothing for the hire.
- Ignoring where people leave. Losing candidates between “applied” and “started” is a process problem. Losing them at “passed” is usually a fit problem.
For first-round screening, a useful funnel is: link opened, interview started, completed, passed, shortlisted. It isolates the step you control most directly. See applicant drop-off for fixing the leaks.