SmartRecruiters’ Recruiting Benchmarks 2025 found that US businesses spend an average of 35 days filling vacancies:
- Each role attracts 74 applications
- 3% of candidates are invited to an interview
- 5% receive a job offer
- 79% of candidates accept their job offer
The study analyzed 12 months of aggregated, anonymized application data from 89 million job applications for 1.5 million jobs in Australia, France, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The findings show that although the US number of applicants per hire is slightly above the global average and the days-to-hire is better than the benchmark, the U.S. has the lowest offer acceptance rate worldwide.
Based on the study, experts believe that the US use of artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline hiring elevates efficiency, effectiveness, and the candidate experience. These factors suggest that US-based hiring professionals and candidates use online talent acquisition platforms more precisely than their worldwide counterparts.
Understanding how long it takes to fill a job supports effective planning. The following is a breakdown of the hiring timeline.
Create a Hiring Plan
Proactively planning your hiring needs gets workers in place when needed to avoid talent gaps. Depending on the level of internal team communication, the planning process could take from 1 week to 1 month.
Focus on the following issues when developing your hiring plan:
- Budget: Include salary range, sign-on bonuses, and related costs.
- Job description: Clarify the top duties and responsibilities and relevant education, skills, and experience.
- Internal hiring: Promoting an employee and hiring more junior talent is more efficient and cost-effective than externally hiring for a higher-level role. Career advancement opportunities strengthen leadership and company tenure.
- Flexibility: Staying flexible with your hiring needs, budget, and timeframe supports successful outcomes.
Implement the Hiring Plan
Work with your internal hiring team and/or a specialized staffing agency to gather insight into the talent pool. Drill down on your hiring needs and get help creating and posting job openings. This step should take approximately 1 week.
Source and Screen Candidates
Your hiring team and/or the staffing agency should have a talent pool or know where to find qualified candidates. They should send the first round of screened candidates within 1 week.
If the candidates do not fit your hiring needs, explain the gaps and how to improve. Include any candidate feedback to help find the right fit. Depending on the role, job description, and hiring market, this process can take 1 week to 3 months or longer.
Conduct Interviews
Ensure your hiring team offers interview flexibility to accommodate candidates’ schedules. Also, encourage the team to review candidate information before each discussion.
Limit the rounds of interviews to increase hiring efficiency. Because top talent can be off the market within 10 days, quickly extending a job offer helps secure your first-choice candidate. The interview process could take 1 week to 3 months or longer.
Negotiate a Job Offer
Be transparent about what you can offer a candidate. For instance, if they request income outside your budget, consider offering additional vacation days or training for increased compensation. Honesty encourages the candidate to accept your job offer. Expect 1-2 weeks for a signed contract.
Request Hiring Support
Let Impact Staffing get to work helping efficiently and effectively fill your hiring needs. Start the process today.
