Where does all the time go?

As we start on this journey I wanted to briefly reflect on "Why are we doing this?"

Recruiting is challenging enough without hours spent engaging candidates that ultimately don't get hired, reducing both candidate experience and hiring efficacy. The truth is, most recruiters exhaust substantial time and resources contacting, screening and interviewing applicants who won't make the final cut for a role.

This misallocation of resources takes a toll—chasing the wrong candidates leaves little room to craft an exceptional experience for applicants who are viable contenders or fill positions quickly.

When recruiters are forced to rush important assessments or lose top candidates due to time constraints, business suffers the consequences of bad hires, or worse yet, talent left untapped.

Predicting high-potential candidates earlier could enable recruiting teams to reallocate up to 70% of time saved back to the hiring process' most critical components: assessing, pitching and onboarding those applicants ideally matched for positions so many need urgently filled.

Here's the current breakdown of where corporate recruiters spend their time in the following proportions for different parts of the recruiting process and what we are looking to improve on this journey.

• Sourcing candidates: 20-30% of time. This includes researching potential candidate sources, posting job ads, searching LinkedIn and other networks, and building a strong talent pipeline. For example, a recruiter may spend a few hours per day searching LinkedIn and other sites for potential candidates based on the job requirements.

• Engaging candidates: 30-40% of time. This includes reaching out to candidates, explaining the role and company, and persuading them to apply or move forward. For instance, a recruiter may spend several hours over a week engaging with the top 10 candidates in the pipeline through emails, phone calls, and in-person meetings.

• Screening candidates: 20-30% of time. This includes reviewing candidate applications, resumes, and profiles; conducting initial phone screens; and verifying qualifications. For example, a recruiter may spend a couple of hours screening the next batch of 25 candidates in the pipeline - reviewing their information and conducting high-level phone calls.

• Presenting and assessing candidates: 10-20% of time. This includes more in-depth interviews, evaluations, assessments, and preparing a shortlist of candidates to present to hiring managers. For instance, a recruiter may spend a full day over the course of a week scheduling and conducting several rounds of interviews with the top 5 candidates and then putting together profiles to present their strengths and weaknesses to hiring managers.

• Onboarding candidates: 0-5% of time. For successful candidates, the recruiter helps finalize salary negotiations, handles job offers, and eases the onboarding process. While not always counted as part of the recruiting time, a recruiter may spend a few hours getting a new hire through the necessary paperwork, background checks, and onboarding steps.

The proportions will vary based on factors like the seniority of the role, difficulty in finding candidates, competitiveness of the job market, and company. But this provides a general estimate of how the time is allocated across major recruiting activities.

Follow us on our journey as we help recruitment teams free up 70% of this time to allow them to focus their human touch on the bottom of the funnel where it can add the most value.

Roderick.