time to hire

Definition

The number of days between when a candidate enters your pipeline and when they accept an offer, measuring recruitment efficiency. Different from 'time to fill' which starts when the requisition opens—HR loves having multiple confusing metrics.

Example Usage

Our time to hire averaged 18 days last quarter, but time to fill was 45 days due to slow requisition approvals.

Origin

Emerged as a standard recruiting metric in the 1990s-2000s as HR became more data-driven

Fun Fact

The average time to hire in the U.S. is about 24 days, but it varies dramatically by industry and position level.

Source: Recruiting analytics and talent acquisition metrics

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