How To Reduce Time to Hire: Tips for Faster Recruiting 

The clock starts ticking as soon as your organization decides to hire new talent. You must complete dozens of hiring process steps, from writing an intriguing job description to negotiating the final offer. Even the most efficient recruiters can face roadblocks along the way — from minor scheduling conflicts to losing top candidates to competitors. So, how can you reduce the time to hire without sacrificing the quality of your hires? 

Dallas Frazer, Customer Success Coach at GoodTime and former Recruiter Operations Lead at Shopify, believes long hiring timelines often indicate inefficient processes. He explains:

“One of the key metrics recruiters will want to track is time-to-hire. If you find your process dragging on for longer than necessary, it’s a clear sign you might be investing too much time and effort in certain stages.”

This article explores common recruitment inefficiencies to help you understand how to reduce the time to hire. We’ll also share practical tips to streamline the recruitment process so you can get the best candidates on board quickly. 

Challenges that slow down the hiring process

In a perfect world, you’d share a job posting, and highly qualified candidates would immediately submit applications. You’d organize a few interviews, make an offer within a week, and voila — your new hire is ready to start.

In reality, the hiring process often takes longer than expected. According to GoodTime’s 2024 Hiring Insights Report, 44% of businesses experienced a longer time to hire in 2023 than the previous year. Here are five challenges that can cause unexpected delays. 

1. Lack of qualified candidates 

Companies want to hire the best candidates, but finding people with the right skills and experience isn’t always easy. The Hiring Insights Report found that 24% of businesses struggled to find qualified candidates in the past 12 months. 

A lack of suitable candidates can significantly extend the hiring process. You may spend weeks or months wading through resumes and interviewing individuals who aren’t quite the right fit. 

2. Inefficient interviewing practices 

Some businesses have outdated or time-consuming interviewing processes. For example, multiple interview rounds or extensive assessments often lead to delays. Slow feedback loops and unclear hiring criteria — like not knowing if candidates need specific certifications or technical skills — can also prolong the interview process. 

3. Scheduling conflicts 

Here’s a familiar scenario for any human resources (HR) professional: You propose a few interview slots, but the candidate isn’t available for any of them. They suggest alternatives, but now one of your team members is on vacation. You go back and forth over email until you finally find a slot that works for everyone — or the candidate stops responding. 

Conflicts like these can turn a simple scheduling task into a time-consuming ordeal. You may even lose your favorite candidates to competitors and need to restart the whole process, significantly extending your hiring time. 

4. Poor candidate experience 

HR technology makes it easier than ever to apply for jobs online, but many platforms are difficult to navigate. Candidates may feel frustrated if they must re-enter information into multiple fields or complete lengthy assessments. Factor in the possibility of glitches or technical issues, and the process becomes even more demoralizing. 

A stressful candidate experience can cause even the most qualified individuals to give up before submitting their applications. As your talent pool shrinks, the time to hire can increase exponentially while the quality of candidates decreases. 

5. Unrealistic compensation expectations

Businesses and candidates may have drastically different numbers in mind regarding salary and benefits. According to our 2024 Hiring Insights Report, 24% of talent acquisition leaders reported that unrealistic compensation expectations had prevented them from reaching their hiring goals. 

This disconnection can lead to lengthy negotiations as you try to bridge the gap between the candidate’s expectations and the company’s budget. If you can’t reach a compromise, the candidate may reject your offer, forcing you to start the hiring process over again. 

Effective strategies to reduce the time to hire

Recruiting talent fast can be challenging, but there are ways to streamline the hiring process. These tactics will help you find the most qualified candidates efficiently and decrease the time to hire.

Automate scheduling tasks 

Nothing slows down the hiring process like playing phone or email tag with a candidate. Coordinating availability and rescheduling interviews can quickly overwhelm recruiters’ to-do lists. 

Mike Joyner, Founding Partner of Growth by Design Talent, highlights the impact of scheduling tasks on the time to hire. He remarks:

“If you don’t automate some of those higher volume tasks, recruiters simply aren’t going to be able to hire as many people given the finite amount of time that would be available for higher impact recruiting work.” 

Automating tasks with interview scheduling software can significantly decrease the time to hire. GoodTime, for example, uses human-centric artificial intelligence (AI) to help businesses schedule interviews 78% faster. It also sends interviewers and candidates personalized reminders, reducing the risk of miscommunications and missed interviews. 

Improve communication 

Every second counts when communicating with potential hires. Text recruiting software allows you to get in touch with candidates instantly and keep them in the loop throughout the hiring process. 

GoodTime lets you message candidates individually or in bulk through SMS, email, and WhatsApp. You can use this tool to filter applicants with pre-built screening questions tailored to your role. Once you’ve identified the most qualified candidates, you can message them directly to coordinate interviews. 

Plus, the platform lets you personalize your communications with intelligent text automation. For example, you can send a candidate a personalized text when they move to the next stage of the interview process or an email if they get rejected. Tailoring your messages strengthens your relationship with candidates and keeps them engaged.

Frequent communication also helps you manage candidates’ expectations. For instance, sending a brief text message outlining the compensation range before scheduling interviews improves transparency and helps filter out disinterested candidates. 

Explore your recruiting processes through your candidates’ eyes

Candidates may encounter barriers during the recruitment process that aren’t immediately obvious to recruiters. For instance, you may not realize that your application doesn’t display properly on mobile devices or that one of your application questions contains a typo. These seemingly minor issues can cause potential candidates to abandon their applications or take longer to finish them. 

Amanda Richardson, CEO and Head of People at CoderPad, recommends investigating your application process from a candidate’s point of view:

“I would challenge every recruiter to apply to a job on their website and then apply to a job on their competitor’s website. Just spend the time going through and understanding what your process is already and you will immediately find ways to improve your candidate experience.” 

This simple process will help you identify bottlenecks or obstacles that may deter candidates. Additionally, GoodTime allows you to collect role-specific feedback from candidates about every step of the hiring process. Use these insights to improve the user experience and attract more qualified applicants. 

Track and analyze recruiting metrics 

Analytics platforms can help you gather data about your hiring processes and identify areas for improvement. GoodTime also offers AI-powered recommendations to streamline processes. Dallas Frazer explains:

“Platforms like GoodTime massively increase our visibility into key recruiting metrics like time-to-hire. They allow recruiting teams to not only see overall time-to-hire, but also pinpoint specific areas that might be causing delays, whether those delays are caused by the candidates, the recruiters, or the interviewers.”

The benefits of reducing the time to hire

Reducing the time to hire is about more than just filling a desk sooner. It also has significant benefits for your entire business. 

Top talent often gets snatched up quickly by leading companies. By decreasing the time to hire, you can engage the most desirable candidates and move them through the hiring pipeline faster. That way, you’ll secure your preferred candidates before they accept offers somewhere else, giving your business a huge competitive edge. 

A shorter time to hire also improves the candidate experience. No one wants to spend weeks or months in limbo, unsure if they’ve landed the job. Streamlining the recruiting process decreases frustration and gives your candidates the peace of mind they deserve. 

Cost savings are another key benefit of reducing the time to hire. The recruitment process involves many expenses, such as paid job advertisements, background checks, and recruiter salaries. By completing your search faster, you’ll cut these costs and get the most out of your recruitment budget. 

Accelerate the recruiting process 

The hiring process has become increasingly complex as employers compete for top talent. Optimizing your workflows will help you connect with qualified candidates faster and find the right fit for your company. 

Take the guesswork out of recruiting with GoodTime. Our user-friendly platform allows you to track critical recruiting metrics actively in a recruiting analytics dashboard. It also analyzes this data to pinpoint inefficiencies and recommend improvements.

With GoodTime, you’ll boost productivity and land your ideal candidates faster — and reduce stress for your recruiting team.