What is time-to-hire?

Time-to-hire is a crucial recruiting metric that’s used to measure the time it takes to move a candidate through the hiring process. Specifically, it tracks the number of days between the moment a candidate enters the recruitment pipeline (either from a job application, being sourced or being referred) and the day that the candidate accepts the offer. At a high level, average time-to-hire gives your organization a more accurate idea of how long it’ll take to fill a certain position.

Why does time-to-hire matter?

Time-to-hire means much more than simply counting the number of days it takes to hire someone. It sheds light on the efficiency of your hiring process, whether you’re losing candidates due to slow response times, and how competitive you are against other recruiters and in the larger context of today’s hiring market.

If your average time-to-hire is high, you’re probably losing out on highly sought-after candidates who accept offers elsewhere because your process is too slow.

If your average time-to-hire is low, it means that your recruitment process is more efficient, and you can capture great talent faster.

In fact, top talent is typically off the market within 10 days of starting their initial search. That means that extending your time-to-hire will put you at risk of losing top-tier talent to competitors.

Time-to-hire and time-to-fill are part of the broader dictionary of key hiring and recruiting metrics. Other metrics just as relevant to time-to-hire are:

• Time-to-fill: Often confused with time-to-hire due to its close similarity, time-to-fill measures the total number of days between when a job requisition is opened to when the position is filled.
• Candidate response time: This metric measures how long candidates take to respond to hiring communications or job offers.
• Offer acceptance rate: Offer acceptance rate is calculated by dividing accepted vs. declined offers for a position.

Calculating time-to-hire

The formula for understanding average time-to-hire is a simple one. But while simple, it is key to retrieving game-changing insights into your recruitment process. Here’s the formula:

• Time-to-hire = offer acceptance date - date candidate applied/sourced

For example, if a candidate applied for a role on October 1 and accepted an offer on October 20, your time-to-hire for that candidate would be 19 days. To measure this accurately, you’ll need to track both the date candidates enter your system via one of the applicant prospecting methods we mentioned above (application, sourcing, referral) and the date they accept the offer.

Remember, the goal isn’t to race through the hiring process for the sake of speed and efficiency. It’s about balancing said efficiency with a valuable candidate experience. If you’re cutting corners to hasten the process through means such as rushing a second-round interview, you risk hiring the wrong person or fostering an uncomfortable hiring experience.

Benefits of optimizing time-to-hire

When recruiters think of time-to-hire, they often think of the impact optimizing it will have on their hiring pipeline. While this impact might only be immediately visible to your HR team, it ultimately strengthens your entire organization. Here’s how:

• Recruitment efficiency

A more efficient time-to-hire (without cutting important corners) allows your hiring team to fill roles faster, reducing the time and effort spent on open positions. It frees up resources and allows recruiters to focus on other tasks like building talent pipelines or improving employer branding for future openings. You’ll also spend less time screening candidates who may lose interest or take other offers.

• More offer acceptances

The quicker you make offers, the less likely candidates will be to accept competing offers from other companies. In a tight job market, speed can make the difference between landing your top pick or starting the process all over again. By reducing time-to-hire, you set yourself up to secure top talent before they’re off the market.

Strategies to reduce time-to-hire

If your hire time is too long, there are ways you can reduce it. Here are a few:

• Look for unnecessary steps

Take a deep dive into the steps in your hiring process. Ask yourself: are there redundant interviews? Do the involved hiring managers take too long to provide feedback to candidates in the pipeline? Tightening up these areas and removing any unnecessary steps can significantly reduce the time it takes to make a hire. Tools like interview scorecards can also speed up decision-making by giving hiring teams a structured way to evaluate candidates properly.

• Leverage technology and automation

Using an applicant tracking system (ATS) to handle routine tasks like screening resumes, sending automated follow-ups or scheduling interviews can save you time and mitigate human error, eventually resulting in a more streamlined, shorter recruitment process.

• Build a talent pipeline

A proactive approach to recruiting means you’re not starting from scratch when a role opens. Maintain relationships with previous candidates, passive candidates and referrals, so that when a position opens up, you’ve already got people in mind. This reduces the time spent on sourcing and attracting candidates.

Benchmarking time-to-hire

When looking at your hire time, you’re likely asking yourself how it measures against your competitors’ time-to-hire and, in the larger context, what’s considered to be a “good” time-to-hire. Conducting benchmarking against industry standards can help you figure out where your company stands.

No time-to-hire is created equally. Different industries have differing average time-to-hire ranges. For example, the tech industry that perpetuates a strong demand for talent tends to have shorter hiring times, while industries like healthcare, where roles are more specialized and concentrated, may take longer to fill.

Additionally, you don’t have to always compare to industry benchmarks. Nor are industry benchmarks always available. Don’t hesitate to resort to internal benchmarks by comparing your current time-to-hire and time-to-fill with historical time-to-hire data. Is your time-to-hire improving? If not, ask yourself what’s changed along the way to worsen it. By focusing on reducing your time-to-hire, you not only improve your efficiency and save resources, but you also provide a better experience for your candidates, which will give you a competitive edge in the perpetual battle for top talent.