Glossary
Time to hire
Time to hire is the number of days between a candidate entering your process, usually by applying, and accepting your offer.
Time to hire measures how long your process takes from the candidate’s point of view. It matters because good candidates rarely wait. The longer your process, the more of them accept somewhere else first.
Time to hire versus time to fill
- Time to hire starts when the candidate applies (or is sourced) and ends when they accept.
- Time to fill starts when the job requisition is approved and ends when someone accepts.
Time to fill includes the time spent writing the job post and waiting for applicants. Time to hire isolates the part where candidates are actually waiting on you.
Where the days go
Assume a 30-day time to hire, broken down:
| Step | Days |
|---|---|
| Application waits for review | 5 |
| Scheduling the phone screen | 4 |
| Phone screen to hiring manager interview | 6 |
| Final round scheduling and interviews | 8 |
| Decision and offer | 5 |
| Candidate considers offer | 2 |
In this example, 15 of the 30 days are waiting: for review, for a slot, for a decision. Interviews themselves take a few hours.
How to shorten it
- Remove scheduling from the first round. An asynchronous first round can start the same day someone applies.
- Review daily. Fifteen minutes each morning beats a two-hour session each Friday.
- Block interview slots in advance. Ask the hiring manager to hold two or three slots a week before the role opens.
- Decide within 48 hours of each round. Set it as a team rule.
- Prepare the offer early. Get approval on the salary range before the final round, not after.
Pitfalls
- Speed at the expense of quality. Cutting a round that catches bad hires is a false saving. Remove waiting, not assessment.
- Averaging across roles. A senior engineering hire and a seasonal retail hire shouldn’t share one number.
- Measuring only hires. Also track how long candidates who withdrew had been waiting. That shows the cost of being slow.
The time to hire calculator helps you model where your own days go.