Time to hire is the number of days between when a candidate applies (or is sourced) for a job and when they accept your offer.
Picture this: You go through multiple rounds of interviews and finally find the perfect match. You offer them the job. Then… nothing. You are trapped in the limbo of Time to Hire.
Your time-to-hire numbers tell you whether your hiring process is working for you or against you. When you can see how long it takes to hire across different countries and roles, you know where you're moving fast and where things are getting stuck.
Here's why it matters: the shorter your time to hire, the better your chances of landing great talent before your competitors do. In today's global market, the best people don't wait around-so neither should your hiring process.
Time to hire vs. time to fill
Time to hire and time to fill are closely related but measure different parts of the hiring process.
- Time to hire (TTH). The number of days it takes to hire a candidate once they enter the hiring process. This metric tells you about the candidate experience. In general, the shorter the time to hire, the better the candidate experience.
- Time to fill (TTF). The number of days a role stays open, from job posting to acceptance. This metric tracks the overall recruiting cycle length, not just the duration of a candidate's stay in the hiring process.
Why your time to hire matters
Time to hire varies by location. Globally, the median time to hire is 38 days. Australia and the U.S. hire the fastest (32 and 35 days, respectively), and Germany the slowest (55 days). Candidates' expectations about how long it takes to get hired depend on where they live, the industry, and the strength of the job market.
Regardless of your candidate's location, a shorter time to hire means a better candidate experience. If your hiring process drags on for weeks or months, you risk losing the best candidates to competing offers. That's why your hiring process should be engaging, straightforward, and timely.
Measuring time to hire shows the slowdowns in your hiring workflow, such as slow interview scheduling or candidate selection. This metric can pinpoint the parts of the process that keep taking longer than expected-something you otherwise wouldn't have known. For example, if the interval between candidate screening and interview scheduling takes longer than it should, you've got a bottleneck in coordinating interviews.
That's all to say, when you measure time to hire, you know how long each step of the hiring process takes. With this knowledge, hiring teams can communicate realistic hiring schedules to department leaders who depend on new talent to meet their operational goals.
What is slowing down your hiring process?
Number of interview rounds or assessments
Long hiring processes with lots of interviews, technical assessments, or case studies can seriously drag out hiring timelines, especially for complex or senior roles.
For example, a tech company looking for software engineers may require candidates to complete an initial coding test, followed by three rounds of interviews with technical, managerial, and HR teams. While these steps can increase a company's confidence in the candidate, they often add several weeks to the recruitment timeline.
Responsiveness of the hiring manager
When you take a while to respond to candidate submissions or schedule interviews, you risk losing top candidates to competitors-to the frustration of recruiters who delivered the candidates to you in the first place.
Clarity of job requirements and decision criteria
When job descriptions are vague and you don't have success metrics in place, you're going to have a harder time identifying qualified candidates. Similarly, vague decision criteria can slow things down as you struggle to assess candidates and make an informed decision.
For example, a marketing role posted with generic requirements, like "digital marketing experience," rather than specific skills, such as "over three years managing paid social campaigns," may attract hundreds of not-quite-right applicants who lack the necessary qualifications. In turn, recruiters spend too much time sorting through unsuitable candidates and ultimately extending time to hire.
Use of applicant tracking systems
Applicant tracking systems (ATS) automate many components of the hiring process, including screening resumes and scheduling interviews. By automating time-consuming tasks, ATSs reduce time to hire.
These technologies also tell you how long each step of the hiring process takes, allowing you to resolve delays within the process.
Role seniority and market competitiveness
Senior positions typically require more extensive vetting processes and specialized skill sets that are harder to find in the talent pool. Hiring for these roles often involves multiple stakeholder interviews, thorough background checks, and lengthy decision-making. Meanwhile, in highly competitive markets for in-demand skills (AI engineering, for example), bidding wars extend negotiations and evaluation timelines.
Also, a cool labor market (more job seekers, fewer jobs) extends time to hire, as employers feel less urgency to hire quickly.
Global hiring complexities
Hiring employees from multiple countries impacts time to hire because now you're managing different time zones, legal requirements, and cultural practices.
Time to hire HR metrics to track
- Median and average time to hire by role or department. Tracking these metrics gives you clear visibility into which job categories or teams are potentially inefficient. With this knowledge, you can make targeted improvements in the hiring process to speed up time to hire.
- Conversion rates between each stage of the hiring funnel. Knowing the conversion rate between each stage allows you to pinpoint when candidates disengage and find out why-like interview scheduling taking too long.
- Time spent in interviews, assessments, or approvals. Too much time spent evaluating candidates can lengthen time to hire and may cause sought-after candidates to accept jobs from other employers that move faster.
- Candidate feedback on speed and communication. Surveying candidates on their experience can reveal areas of the hiring process, such as the hiring manager's responsiveness, that need to be improved.
- Comparison against industry benchmarks to stay competitive. Construction and retail have the shortest times to hire, while healthcare, engineering, and government have the longest. The best practice is to stay within the industry average.
Overall, you can reduce time to hire by streamlining internal processes, automating scheduling, and aligning stakeholders around faster decision-making.
How to speed up time to hire without cutting corners
You're trying to hire someone amazing in another country, but suddenly you're drowning in labor laws, tax codes, and cultural differences you've never heard of. And that's before you even figure out if they're the right fit for your team. Cut through the legalese with Pebl.
Our Employer of Record service handles all the onboarding minutia, from visa sponsorship to payroll establishment and more. We navigate the legal maze so you can focus on what you do best-finding great people and getting them started fast.
Want to see how much faster your global hiring could be? Let's talk.
This information does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal or tax advice and is for general informational purposes only. The intent of this document is solely to provide general and preliminary information for private use. Do not rely on it as an alternative to legal, financial, taxation, or accountancy advice from an appropriately qualified professional. The content in this guide is provided "as is," and no representations are made that the content is error-free.
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