When someone comes to us looking for a new role one of the first questions they’ll ask is ‘how long does it usually take to get hired?’ And our answer is usually something along the lines of ‘that depends’.
This is because there are so many factors involved in the hiring process that it’s nearly impossible to give an exact timeframe on when a candidate will land a role.
And believe it or not, it can also be just as difficult giving an employer a timeframe for finding that perfect candidate.
From visas for overseas hires to finding a candidate who’s the right fit for the company’s culture—there are so many moving parts involved that the whole process is usually quite long and drawn-out.
Add into the mix the fact that covid has drawn a big red line through the best laid plans of recruiters everywhere, and you can see how difficult it is for us to put a timeframe on success.
But since figuring out a ‘time to hire’ is hugely important to both candidates and employers, we’re going to explain the various aspects of the hiring process that can affect this.
What is the average ‘time to hire’?
Okay, so first things first—time to hire is slightly different to how long it takes a candidate to get a job.
Time to hire is the length of time it takes a company to fill a role from start to finish. This could be much longer (or shorter) than the time it takes for a candidate to land the same position.
According to research, the average time to hire across all industries is 3-4 weeks. Incredibly, about 75% of that time is spent on interviews alone. In fact, in the UK, Glassdoor estimates that the interviewing process takes about 27.5 days on average.
Finding a job, on the other hand, can be a much more laborious and lengthy process. Some studies have found that the average time it takes for a candidate to find a job can be as long as 24 weeks. The same research has found that it can also take as many as 100 applications just to receive one job offer.
As you can see, the time required from both an employer and candidate’s perspectives can vary a great deal.
So what are the factors that can have an impact on both time to hire and the time it takes to find a job in 2021 and into 2022?
A global and local talent shortage
We spoke before about how the global talent shortage can have a positive impact on diversity, but it’s not great for a company’s time to hire.
According to research carried out last year, the skills gap has risen from 5% in 2009 to 27% in 2020. The same study also found that 75% of companies with 250 or more people were struggling to find suitable candidates with most having open positions.
This talent shortage means that employers are now expanding their search for talent to include markets not just in the EU but across the globe. And while interviewing candidates virtually poses no great difficulties, the visa application and/or relocation processes can add weeks or possibly even months to a company’s time to hire.
On the flip side, a lot more candidates are looking abroad these days in order to secure the best role for their career progression. If this is the case, then the time it takes to land a role can also be impacted by relocation issues.
A change in how employers hire
As we just mentioned, many employers have embraced the concept of remote hiring and virtual interviews. In many cases, this should reduce the time required for both candidates and employers to make it through the recruitment process.
However, adapting to these changes can take time and there’s always a learning curve involved. While some employers continued to hire throughout the pandemic, many shelved their recruitment plans until quite recently.
What this means is that we now have a plethora of employers who are eager to hire and are testing the waters particularly with regards to remote onboarding for new team members who will work from home. New software niggles and kinks in the virtual hiring process may need to be ironed out and while this may have an effect on time to hire, it’s unlikely that it will remain a long-term issue.
A move back to the office
Remote work was great for some and not so great for others, but one thing is sure—we all gave it our best shot. Employers saw great results and learned to trust their employees more while employees benefited from the flexibility working from home offered.
As a result, the option to work from home or spend at least part of the working week working remotely has become something of an essential requirement for candidates on the hunt for a new role.
But as vaccinations roll out and companies start to reopen their offices, we’re starting to see an increasing number of employers asking their employees to return to the office full-time.
This will no doubt limit the number of opportunities for candidates that are seeking the option to work remotely while it will simultaneously reduce the number of suitable candidates in an employer’s talent pool.
This, along with virtual hiring, is perhaps the most interesting and long-term impact that Covid-19 will have on the recruitment industry as a whole. Now that candidates have had a taste of remote work and are impressed with the results, many genuinely feel that it is a benefit that should be standard much like holidays and sick leave are.
These are just some of the many factors that can impact a company’s time to hire and affect how long it takes a candidate to find a suitable role. And as you can see, they make it impossible for us to accurately predict a timeframe for getting a job or filling that role. So in answer to the question ‘how long does it take to get hired?’, we’re sticking with our original answer—that depends!
Whether you’re looking for a new challenge or you’re struggling to find the right candidate for a role, get in touch with Software Placements and we’ll see what we can do to help. We can’t promise you success by a specific date but we can certainly help you speed up the process.