Glossary
Time to hire
Time to hire is the number of days between an applicant entering your hiring process, usually by applying, and accepting your job offer.
Time to hire measures how long your process takes from the applicant’s side. It matters because good applicants rarely wait. The longer your process, the more of them take another job first.
Time to hire versus time to fill
- Time to hire starts when the applicant applies (or when a recruiter first contacts them) and ends when they accept.
- Time to fill starts when the company approves the new job (see job requisition) and ends when someone accepts.
Time to fill includes the time spent writing the job post and waiting for applications. Time to hire counts only the part where applicants are waiting on you.
Where the days go
Say your time to hire is 30 days. Here’s how it might break down:
| Step | Days |
|---|---|
| Application waits for someone to read it | 5 |
| Booking the phone interview | 4 |
| From the phone interview to the interview with the manager | 6 |
| Booking and holding the final interviews | 8 |
| Decision and offer | 5 |
| Applicant thinks over the offer | 2 |
In this example, 15 of the 30 days are spent waiting: for someone to read the application, for a free slot, for a decision. The interviews themselves take a few hours.
How to shorten it
- Stop scheduling the first interview. If applicants can take it on their own time, it can happen the same day they apply.
- Review applications every day. Fifteen minutes each morning is better than two hours every Friday.
- Book interview times in advance. Ask the manager who is hiring to keep two or three slots free each week, starting before the job opens.
- Decide within 48 hours of each interview. Make it a team rule.
- Prepare the offer early. Get the pay range approved before the final interview, not after.
Mistakes
- Speed at the cost of quality. Cutting an interview that catches bad hires doesn’t really save anything. Remove waiting, not assessment.
- Averaging across different jobs. A senior engineer and a seasonal store worker shouldn’t share one number.
- Measuring only the people you hired. Also track how long applicants who dropped out had been waiting. That shows what being slow costs you.
The time to hire calculator helps you work out where your own days go.