Hiring Process Timeline Best Practices

What is the hiring process timeline?

It’s important to be flexible with the hiring process timeline because you might find you need to adapt it based on the requirements of the role, your industry or your company. However, you shouldn’t necessarily customize the selection process for each candidate. Doing so often leads to excessive time spent with candidates for high-level positions and insufficient time spent with candidates for low-level positions. You need good people at all levels. Remind yourself that finding the most qualified candidate is worth the effort, no matter the job level or business environment.

With that in mind, when you’ve identified the need to hire someone, use this model to guide you through the process.

Week one

• Create a job announcement: The job ad should have an accurate job description. The right description combines two elements: what the company is looking for in a candidate and how the company will help the new employee succeed. In many cases, you’re writing for a specialized audience with specific expectations. Omitting important information about your company and the job might prompt a qualified candidate to look elsewhere.
• Post the job opening: Circulate the job announcement on jobs boards, industry websites, social media and professional networks.
• Look for outside insight: Discuss your hiring process with trusted professionals, personal advisors or anyone who has shown a knack for providing insight into your business and industry. Sometimes, outsiders can offer fresh perspectives that will send you and your human resources (HR) team in an exciting new direction. They might even name the person who eventually gets the job.
• Talk to recruiters: Contact recruiters who have been effective in your industry.
• Reach out to your network: Recruit candidates directly through social media or other more traditional networking methods, such as making phone calls. It never hurts to remind people that their talents are held in high esteem, even if they don’t apply for this particular position.

Week two

• Receive and review applications: Within a week of posting the job, you should have some applications and resumes coming in. Start looking through them to identify some good fits.
• Conduct initial interviews: Once you have identified some qualified candidates, you can start conducting phone or video interviews.
• Ask for additional information: Request more information from candidates (if needed). Have them answer emailed questions, take an editing or programming test or provide work samples.

Week three

• Schedule and hold in-person interviews: Based on your first round of interviews, start scheduling and holding in-person interviews. In emergencies, video conferencing might suffice.

Week four

• Finish the first round of in-person interviews: Depending on the position you’re filling and many other factors, the number of weeks you spend on the first, second and additional interview rounds will vary.
• Hold the second round of interviews: Schedule and conduct second-round interviews and set up candidate presentations and group interviews.
• Do reference checks: Contact references. The hiring manager or HR specialist may do this step earlier in the process, but if they haven’t, now is the time.

Week five

• Conduct follow-up interviews: If necessary, do another round of interviews, often with applicants meeting with senior management.
• Have candidates make presentations: Schedule and hold sessions in which selected applicants make presentations.
• Finalize the shortlist: Narrow your list down to a few candidates you would feel comfortable hiring.

Week six

• Make a job offer: Once you have a top candidate in mind, make an offer. Be sure to have all of the particulars, like salary and benefits, outlined in your offer.
• Negotiate: Not every candidate will jump at your first offer. Be prepared to negotiate salary and other terms of employment.
• Conduct background checks: Before you finalize any hiring agreement, make sure everything in a background check (if you choose to conduct one) has been addressed.

How long does the average hiring process take?

According to Get Hired by LinkedIn News, the hiring process takes about three to six weeks, on average. However, the timeline for completing the hiring process, from the initial job posting to the acceptance of an offer, varies among industries and companies.

For example, five industries with some of the longest hiring timelines include government, aerospace and defense, energy and utilities, biotech and pharmaceuticals and nonprofits.

The industries with the shortest hiring processes are those with dynamic staffing patterns and a greater emphasis on abilities than educational credentials, such as restaurants and bars, private security, supermarkets, automotive and beauty and fitness.

Your company’s hiring timeline will be unique to your business and possibly even the department or position you are hiring for. In addition to looking at the average hiring timeline for your industry, you can get an estimate of how long your hiring process will take by asking yourself these three questions:

1. Does your company put a large emphasis on cultural fit? Hiring managers are increasingly keen on finding candidates who fit culturally into a particular system of customs, goals and values. Finding such people extends the selection process with additional interviews, sometimes in informal settings.
2. Is your job opening for a position that requires significant judgment and creativity? As automation eliminates many routine, task-oriented jobs, a higher percentage of positions require advanced thinking skills. That means you must think longer about whom to hire. Tools such as skills assessments and personality testing are often worth your investment.
3. Does the job description emphasize customer service skills? Customer service skills have never been more important to business and they are measured more accurately in a lengthier interview process.

Although these three instances can add extra time to your hiring process, it’s important to assess each position carefully.

How to create an effective hiring process

The complexity of your hiring process will depend on various factors, including:

• Company size
• Degree of profitability
• Position within a competitive market
• Company history and culture
• Number of positions you’re seeking to fill
• Level of the position
• Whether the position is a new role for the company
• The number of people involved in the hiring process

With these factors in mind, you use the following steps to create an effective hiring process.

1. Define all open roles clearly. 

Clearly define the roles you are hiring for. Your definition should include details like the job responsibilities, required skills, qualifications and experience.

2. Develop a structured hiring plan. 

Consistency is an important part of an effective hiring process. Create a plan that outlines key stakeholders, goals, hiring timelines and workflows. Educate your staff on this process so everyone is on the same page. When we spoke with Matt Erhard, managing partner at recruitment and executive search firm Summit Search Group, he highlighted this as one of the most important steps. 

“Establish standards and systems for every stage of the process, from determining your hiring needs through sourcing, screening, interviewing, selecting and onboarding,” Erhard told us. “When you have clear standards and steps in place for the team to follow, there is less risk of confusion or need for discussion as you move through the process, which allows the process to flow more seamlessly.” 

3. Implement an applicant tracking system.

Find an applicant tracking system (ATS) that meets your hiring needs and train your workers to use it. When looking for an ATS, focus on the tools and features you currently need and which might be valuable as your business grows. It can be helpful to conduct demos and free trials to test out the software before making a purchase.

If you are a very small company only hiring for a role or two, you may be able to skip this step. However, an applicant tracking system can be a valuable tool in tracking and managing applicants throughout the hiring process. 

4. Conduct efficient employee screening. 

Be efficient and effective with your screening process. Erhard suggests doing this through asynchronous assessments. 

“Skill assessments, personality tests and one-way interviews can be very useful tools for improving hiring efficiency,” he said. “They allow you to gather information on a wider variety of candidates before you start meeting with them one-on-one, allowing your HR team to make more efficient use of their time and focus their greatest effort on the strongest candidates.”

Whether you use phone screens, skills tests, interviews or other assessment methods, just be sure that each step is necessary and well-thought-out to enhance efficiency. The last thing you want is a prolonged interview process that deters top applicants. 

“Many believe a longer hiring process equates to thoroughness, but lengthy timelines can deter quality candidates and suggest indecisiveness,” said Adam Lenhart, managing partner at Optimum Supply Chain Recruiters. “Focusing on efficiency while maintaining quality helps organizations attract mission-critical talent in a competitive market.”

Additionally, consider using a scoring system to rank candidates based on key criteria and use a consistent format during interviews.

5. Make data-driven decisions. 

When evaluating two candidates, make your decision based on data. Use interview feedback, test results and reference checks to assess candidates objectively. This can help you create an effective process and reduce the potential for hiring bias.

You can also use data to improve your overall hiring process. Top-rated HR software can provide you with valuable data points around whether your hiring process is successful or needs to be modified.

“Utilizing analytics to track metrics such as time-to-fill and candidate source effectiveness offers valuable insights into what works and needs improvement,” said Lenhart. “Continuous refinement of recruitment strategies ensures an optimized process.”

Best practices for a successful hiring process

Creating an effective hiring process takes time, but it’s worth it when you are able to find the right staff for your business. Here are a few best practices to help you achieve the best hiring results.

Craft a job description that is clear and specific.

The description of the role should be complete but not laden with details of every possible demand that the new hire will face. The right job description can act as a road map for the entire hiring process.

“Clearly defining the role you are hiring for is essential,” said Lenhart. “This means outlining the skills, experiences and qualifications necessary for success in the position. A well-crafted job description attracts the right candidates and sets the expectations for the employer and the potential employee.” 

Consider only the best candidates.

Be true to your screening process and bring in only select candidates for interviews. Trust your instincts about candidates after reading their resumes. A certain candidate might look interesting, but will that person be a good fit for your company? Instead of scheduling five to 10 people for a first interview, you might want to go with three to five. Avoid interviewing too many candidates who might look interesting but do not meet the minimum qualifications for the role.

Don’t overlook internal candidates.

Internal candidates may not be perfect, but neither are external applicants, despite their impressive resumes. And even if an internal candidate is interviewed but not hired, at least that person will not feel taken for granted. “Recruiting” people who are already on board is a way to build better communication links within your company. [Related article: Why You Should Promote from Within Your Company]

Simplify the application process.

Go the easy-apply route, instead of requiring detailed information upfront in a lengthy application, which can discourage would-be candidates. At the outset, ask simply for a cover letter and a resume. It takes only a few minutes to glance at this information. If you like what you see, you can get more detailed information during the next stage of the hiring process.

Get a head start on references.

Contact job references earlier in the hiring process, rather than later. Tacking this step onto the end of a series of interviews can delay hiring. (A key contact might be on vacation, for instance.) Also, checking references is an important way to evaluate talent and should not be treated as an afterthought. Knowing more about a candidate who comes in for an interview will help your HR team ask better interview questions, leading to a richer exchange of ideas and information.

Be flexible.

If a candidate does not have a particular advanced degree or the same background as everyone else at the office, must that be a dealbreaker? If you cling to too many preconceived notions about the ideal candidate, you might overlook someone who could bring new ideas to your business. This is especially true as Gen Z makes its mark on the workforce, many of whom don’t subscribe to the belief that a college degree isn’t needed to have a successful career.

>>Read next: Would You Hire Someone Who Didn’t Go to College?

Outsource certain tasks.

If you anticipate becoming overwhelmed by the hiring process — and that might happen, for reasons out of your control — outsource some of the process to a professional staffing agency.

Skye Schooley contributed to this article.