Does it feel like the candidate interview process is taking an increasingly longer time? It’s not your imagination. A new
Glassdoor Economic Research report titled “
Why is Hiring Taking Longer?” by Glassdoor Chief Economist Dr. Andrew Chamberlain found that the hiring process, based on candidate feedback, is now taking 3.3 to 3.7 days longer than it did in 2010.
Now the big question is: why? Here we dig into the report to help recruiters and employers understand what may be hindering the hiring process, what may be within their control to improve and what may be a bigger problem to address.
Below are five reasons why your candidate interviews are taking too long:
1. Your screening process
While every employer is worried about making a bad hire, it is important to question just how much each step in your interview process is really helping or hurting when it comes to finding the right hire.
For example, a phone interview can mean the interview process takes a candidate 6.8 to 8.2 days, and a 1:1 interview adds another 4.1 to 5.3 days.
Interestingly, the report shows that hiring is taking longer today than in 2010 due to a rise in particular screening methods. For example, 25% of job seekers reported having a background checks as part of the interview process where as in 2014 more than two in five (42%) candidates reported this screening method. Other interview methods that have grown recently include skills tests (16 percent in 2010 to 23 percent in 2014), drug tests (13 percent in 2010 to 23 percent in 2014) and personality tests (12 percent in 2010 to 18 percent in 2014).
2. Your office location
All cities are not equal when it comes to the hiring process from the candidate perspective. In fact, when we compared U.S. cities, the longest hiring processes are in
Washington, D.C. (34.4 days). Close behind is
Portland (25.3 days),
Seattle (25.0 days),
San Jose (24.8 days) and
San Francisco (23.7) - all major technology hubs. The shortest interview processes are in
Miami (18.6 days),
Phoenix (19.1 days),
Orlando (19.3 days),
Austin (19.6 days) and
Tampa (20.2 days).
3. Your industry
The report shows that industries also have an impact when it comes to the speed in which a candidate progresses through the interview process. As Chamberlain writes, “Some types of employers take much longer to screen job candidates than others, both in the U.S. and around the world. Government employers (which include various local, state and federal agencies) consistently hire most slowly,
ranging from 49 days in Australia to 60 days in the U.S. At the opposite end
of the spectrum, franchise employers (which include many retail and fast food establishments) have the shortest hiring processes by far, ranging from 8 days in Australia and the U.S. to 13 days in the United Kingdom.”
4. Your company size (based on number of employees)
No surprise, the report also showed that the larger the employer the longer the hiring process. Chamberlain cites larger employers typically have sharper division of labor, hiring more specialized and technical workers that require more careful screening of applicants. Larger organizations also typically face more bureaucracy, which in turns impacts hiring time.
5. Your open jobs
Veteran recruiters know hiring times can vary significantly by position. The report highlights that hiring for
police officers,
patent examiners or
assistant professors take the longest, whereas hiring for
server/
bartenders,
entry-level account managers and
dishwashers take the shortest.
There are several important takeaways for recruiters from this report. First, recognize there are some factors, like evaluating the effectiveness and necessity of screening methods, within your control that can help improve the application-to-hire process. Second, recruiters can and should set realistic expectations with candidates, management and peers early on regarding how long the interview process should take once a candidate applies.
If you want to understand what’s working and what’s not about your interview process, test out Glassdoor’s
recruiting and
employer branding solutions, which offer a wealth of insights specific to your company. For example, you can learn how
candidates rate your interview experience, including difficulty and what stands out, plus your job offer acceptance rate. All this will give you a better understanding of what works and what doesn’t in your recruiting and hiring process. After all, who doesn’t want more qualified candidates and a better overall experience for those candidates!
Learn more about what Glassdoor can do for you by claiming your Glassdoor profile with a
Free Employer Account.
