Why Time-to-Hire Matters and How IaaS Can Help You Hire Smarter and Faster

Hiring the right person is never easy, and it gets even tougher when you need to fill a role quickly. You have probably heard the phrase “time is money” and it could not be more true when it comes to hiring. On average, it takes more than a month to fill a single job role. Even more surprising, recruiters spend so many hours in a week just looking for candidates for one position.

This is why time-to-hire has become a key metric in making the recruitment process faster and more efficient. In this blog, we will explain what time-to-hire means, why it matters and how you can use Interview as a Service platform to reduce it and improve your overall recruitment strategy.

What is time-to-hire?

Time-to-hire is a widely used and powerful hiring metric. It tracks how many days it takes from when a candidate applies for a job to when they accept the job offer. But it is not just about counting days; it gives you insight into how fast and smooth your hiring process really is. Time-to-hire is one of the most important metrics for HR teams and hiring managers to build an efficient recruiting strategy. 

Here is what time for recruitment can tell you:

• Hiring issues: A long time-to-hire can reveal problems in your recruitment process to help you spot and fix delays or inefficiencies. 
• Hiring speed: It shows how quickly your team moves a candidate through the hiring process. A longer time-to-hire means things are moving slowly and may need improvement. 
• Candidate experience: A faster process creates a better experience for candidates. When hiring moves quickly, candidates feel valued and are more likely to accept the offer.

Why is it important to have a short time-to-hire?

Every candidate moving through your hiring process is aware of how long things take. If the process is too slow, you risk losing great talent and creating a poor experience for job seekers.

Hiring quickly does not just make candidates happier; it also helps your company grow faster and stay ahead of the competition. In hiring, acting fast is key, and time is one of your most valuable tools.

Time-to-hire vs. time-to-fill: what’s the difference?

People often mix up time-to-hire and time-to-fill, even though they measure different parts of the hiring process. Time for recruitment refers to the total number of days it takes from the moment a candidate submits their application to the moment they accept the job offer. On the other hand, time-to-fill is the number of days from when the job opening is approved to when the position is accepted by a candidate.

In short, time-to-fill reflects the entire hiring process, including the time it takes to attract applicants. Time-to-hire focuses only on the speed at which a qualified candidate moves through the process once they have applied. While time-to-fill depends on how quickly you find candidates, time for recruitment depends on how efficiently you move them through interviews and make a decision.

What is the average time to hire?

Most studies focus more on time-to-fill than time-to-hire. On average, the average time to hire a new employee is 44-53 days. So, while the exact number can change, most hires take about a month to complete.

However, the time-to-hire can vary based on the job role, industry and how easy or hard it is to find the right talent in a specific location. So, there is no exact “ideal” time-to-hire. 

How to reduce time to hire: 5 practical tips

Monitor each step of your hiring process

Start by keeping an eye on and tracking every step of your hiring process to improve your time to recruit. You can easily do it by using an Interview as a Service platform. The IaaS platform provides valuable insights into where bottlenecks occur to help you identify and address areas that slow down the process.

Even if you are only hiring a few people, IaaS helps streamline the steps to make it easier to spot opportunities for improvement and reduce delays. In addition, you can seamlessly integrate IaaS with your ATS or HRMS software to further enhance your ability to monitor and optimize the entire hiring workflow.

Speed is not everything when hiring

While this blog focuses on time to recruit, it is important to remember that this is just a measure of how fast you are hiring and not how good your hire is. That is why it is okay to take a little extra time to ensure you are choosing the right person.

The quality of hire matters more in the long run. Most CEOs would prefer to wait a few extra days to find the right fit rather than rush and hire someone who is not a good match. 

Use candidate assessments to speed up time-to-hire

IaaS platform features, such as custom rubrics created with SMEs, an extensive question bank (curated, AI-generated or custom) and pre-built or custom technical challenges, help quickly evaluate candidates. It reduces time spent on unqualified applicants, which allows you to focus on the best fits and accelerate your hiring process. 

Set a time goal for each step in the hiring process

For every stage in your hiring process, decide how many days it should take and what the maximum limit is. This makes it easier to compare your actual timelines with your goals. For example, if you notice that it is taking too long to review applications before the first phone call, that is a clear area to fix quickly and save time.

Spend time on the best-fit candidates

If you want to hire faster, you must focus on fewer candidates who are truly a good match for the job. This saves time and makes the process smoother. You can attract better applicants by writing clear and detailed job descriptions and showing what the job is really like before they apply. This way, only people who are a good fit will be interested. It will ultimately make your job easier. 

Also Read: An Ultimate Guide to Crafting an Effective Technical Hiring Process

Conclusion

In today’s fast-changing job market, candidates have more choices than ever. Therefore, it is important to give them a good candidate experience from the very beginning. One of the biggest factors that affects how they feel about your company is how long the hiring process takes. 

If you track and work to shorten your time-to-hire, you will not only keep candidates more interested but also improve the overall quality of your hiring process. Keeping your time to recruit short is not just about filling a position quickly. Instead, it is about making sure you do not miss out on the best candidates. The faster you move, the better your chances of hiring top talent who can really make a difference in your organization. 

Are you ready to reduce your time to hire and hire top talent quickly? VProPle is the best Interview as a Service (IaaS) platform to help you streamline your recruitment process and hire faster without compromising on quality. Contact us today to transform your hiring process!