Time to hire is the number of calendar days between the date the hired candidate enters the recruitment process and the date that candidate accepts the offer. It measures how quickly a person moves through sourcing or application, screening, submission, interviews, decisions, and offer acceptance. Unlike time to fill, it excludes the period before that candidate entered the process.<\/p>\n
SHRM describes time to hire as the interval from candidate identification to offer acceptance. Recruiterflow uses application or sourcing date as the starting event. Both approaches center the metric on the hired candidate, but agencies need a precise entry rule for applicants, sourced prospects, referrals, and people rediscovered in an existing database. SHRM on data-driven recruiting<\/a> Recruiterflow time-to-hire formula<\/a><\/p>\n Time to hire = offer acceptance date minus candidate pipeline-entry date<\/strong><\/p>\n A candidate enters the process on March 4 and accepts the offer on March 26. Time to hire is 22 calendar days.<\/p>\n For a group of accepted hires:<\/p>\n Average time to hire = total time-to-hire days divided by the number of accepted hires<\/strong><\/p>\n Four hires took 12, 19, 24, and 57 days. The average is 28 days. The median is 21.5 days. The median gives a clearer picture of the typical hire in this small group since the 57-day case pulls the average upward.<\/p>\n Group hires by acceptance date for a completed-hire report. State the cohort, sample size, date range, and calendar basis beside the result.<\/p>\n The start event creates the largest comparability problem. Use the earliest date the person became an active candidate for that specific job.<\/p>\n Use the application date. If the person applies more than once, use the application that entered the successful job process.<\/p>\n Use the date a recruiter adds the person to the job, starts approved outreach, or records candidate identification. Pick one event and apply it across the team.<\/p>\n Use the date the referral is received and entered into the job process, not the later screening-call date.<\/p>\n Use the date the existing person is reactivated for the current job. Do not use the profile’s original creation date from several years earlier.<\/p>\n Use the date the person enters the current job process. Prior activity may inform assessment, but it should not inflate the current time-to-hire interval.<\/p>\n Use the date the firm records that prospect as an active target for the mandate. A broad market-map creation date is too early if no person-level work had started.<\/p>\n A technology recruitment agency opens a cloud-security role on February 1. The recruiter sources a candidate and adds her to the job on February 12. She responds on February 14, completes screening on February 16, is submitted on February 18, interviews twice, and accepts on March 5.<\/p>\n Time to hire is 21 calendar days, from February 12 to March 5. Time to fill is 32 days, from the role opening on February 1 to acceptance.<\/p>\n The stage intervals show five days from pipeline entry to submission and 16 days from submission to acceptance. The second client interview took eight days to schedule. The agency has fast sourcing and screening, but slower client coordination.<\/p>\n In the account review, the agency and client agree on prebooked interview windows and a two-business-day feedback expectation. The headline metric flags the overall candidate cycle. The stage intervals guide the operational change.<\/p>\n<\/span>Time to hire at a glance<\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/span>Time-to-hire formula<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>Define when a candidate enters the process<\/span><\/h2>\n
Applicant<\/h3>\n
Sourced candidate<\/h3>\n
Referral<\/h3>\n
Rediscovered database candidate<\/h3>\n
Candidate moved from another job<\/h3>\n
Confidential or passive prospect<\/h3>\n
<\/span>Example from an agency recruiting workflow<\/span><\/h2>\n