In recruitment we often talk about intuition, experience or “gut feeling” when assessing how a process is going. But as an organisation grows —or when deadlines tighten— those impressions are no longer enough. That’s where recruitment KPIs become essential: they provide a clear view of what’s actually happening, where time is being lost, which stages create friction, which channels work best and what decisions have the biggest impact.

This guide brings together the core metrics every talent team should master in order to work in a more predictable, efficient and truly data-driven way.

Time to Fill

Time to Fill measures the entire period from the moment a vacancy is approved to the moment the selected candidate accepts the offer. It is, in essence, the operational heartbeat of the hiring process: the shorter it is, the more prepared the organisation is to respond to staffing needs.

How it’s calculated
Time to Fill = Offer acceptance date – Vacancy opening date

When the number grows, it usually signals one of the following: too many approval steps, an unclear role definition, a shortage of candidates or a funnel that is simply progressing more slowly than it should. When it’s low, it typically reflects a well-coordinated and mature process.

This KPI is especially useful for critical roles, high-demand markets or periods of rapid growth, where every delay impacts the business.

Key benefits

• Greater operational efficiency
• Fewer open vacancies affecting business continuity
• Better workforce planning

How to improve it

• Streamline the vacancy approval workflow
• Coordinate more effectively with hiring managers
• Adjust sourcing strategies
• Use automation tools such as Velora’s AI-powered multiposting, which accelerates the initial attraction phase

Time to Hire

While Time to Fill looks at the process as a whole, Time to Hire focuses exclusively on the candidate’s journey. It starts at first contact (or application) and ends when the offer is accepted.

How it’s calculated
Time to Hire = Offer acceptance date – First contact/application date

A long Time to Hire often reveals bottlenecks in interviews, delays in feedback, slow technical assessments or decision-making that stretches far beyond what the market can tolerate. And in competitive sectors, slow processes lead to candidates disengaging or choosing other offers.

This KPI is especially useful for analysing the experience you’re offering candidates, identifying slow funnels or comparing performance against sector benchmarks.

Key benefits

• Reduced candidate drop-off
• Higher competitiveness
• Improved overall candidate experience

How to improve it

• Automate pipeline management and communication
• Schedule interviews earlier in the process
• Speed up internal validations
• Integrate systems such as Velora’s Multilevel Evaluation, which centralises assessments and reduces delays

Conversion Rate by Process Stage

One of the most revealing indicators in any recruitment process is the conversion rate at each stage. Instead of looking only at volume, this metric highlights where the funnel tightens and where candidates drop off unexpectedly.

How it’s calculated
Conversion Rate = (Candidates advancing / Candidates at stage start) × 100

Sharp declines often indicate overly demanding assessments, misaligned expectations, unclear role descriptions or a mismatch between requirements and what is communicated.

This KPI is invaluable when reviewing assessments, fine-tuning interviews, adjusting filters or analysing how candidates understand the role.

Key benefits

• A more efficient recruitment funnel
• Better alignment between candidate and role

How to improve it

• Refine selection criteria
• Adjust tasks or assessments
• Improve clarity in candidate communication
• Revisit job descriptions

Quality of Hire

Speed means little if the end result is poor. Quality of Hire is one of the most strategic KPIs because it evaluates whether the final hiring decision truly delivers value.

How it’s calculated
Each organisation defines its formula, but a common model is:
(Performance + Retention + Manager Evaluation) / 3

This metric usually combines performance, retention, cultural fit and hiring manager feedback. A low value rarely means the process should be faster; it usually indicates misaligned criteria, poorly structured interviews or unclear expectations.

Key benefits

• More strategic hiring decisions
• Lower early turnover

How to improve it

• Sharpen selection criteria
• Use more structured interviews
• Establish continuous feedback loops between hiring managers and recruiters

Recruitment Source Effectiveness

Not all channels produce the same results. Some generate large volumes without quality, while others consistently deliver strong hires. Recruitment Source Effectiveness helps identify which channels actually convert.

How it’s calculated
Source Effectiveness = Hires / Candidates from that source

This KPI is essential when allocating budget, selecting job boards or assessing campaigns.

Key benefits

• More efficient investment
• Improved quality of candidate pipeline

How to improve it

• Reallocate sourcing budget
• Strengthen referral programmes
• Discontinue channels that underperform

Candidate Evaluation: Screening and Preselection Ratios

The first stages of the funnel determine everything that happens afterwards. Screening and preselection ratios reveal how aligned the candidate pool is with the actual needs of the role.

Useful ratios include:

• Eligible vs. non-eligible candidates
• Applicants vs. qualified candidates for interview
• Qualified vs. shortlisted

High rejection rates early in the process usually point to poorly defined requirements, ineffective sourcing channels or job ads that don’t reflect the role accurately.

Key benefits

• More efficient filtering
• Significant time savings for the team

How to improve it

• Adjust job requirements
• Optimise job ads and segmentation
• Improve ATS or filtering systems

Pipeline Visibility

Understanding how many candidates are in each stage, and how long they take to move forward, allows teams to anticipate bottlenecks before they become a problem.

Pipeline visibility is particularly important during hiring peaks or when the team is operating at full capacity.

It is measured using status metrics, stage-specific timings and the accumulation of candidates across the funnel.

Long queues in one stage usually suggest that the team needs support, better organisation or a simplified process.

Key benefits

• Strong operational control
• Early detection of issues

How to improve it

• Redistribute workloads
• Reorganise priorities
• Temporarily scale capacity

Candidate Funnel Conversion

This KPI provides a macro view of the entire hiring process: how many candidates ultimately become hires.

It helps identify whether interest is lost at the application stage, whether interviews are filtering too aggressively, or whether offers lack competitiveness.

It is one of the most important KPIs for understanding the overall health of recruitment.

Key benefits

• Strategic optimisation of the recruitment process
• Greater predictive capacity

How to improve it

• Strengthen employer branding
• Simplify the application process
• Refine messaging and communication

Interview Scheduling and Invitation Metrics

These metrics reveal how candidates respond to interview invitations: acceptance rates, response times and attendance levels.

Low acceptance or slow responses usually indicate practical issues —overly rigid scheduling, unclear messaging, lack of reminders or too many confirmation steps. What feels like “just another email” for the team can be a barrier for the candidate.

Key benefits

• More efficient interview coordination
• Reduced talent loss

How to improve it

• Offer more flexible interview slots
• Automate reminders
• Clarify instructions in the invitation

Recruiter Performance

Finally, recruitment KPIs should also help understand how the team is performing —not to evaluate individuals in a punitive way, but to identify training needs, workload imbalances or opportunities for automation.

Useful metrics include:

• Number of interviews conducted
• Number of candidates progressing
• Number of hires per recruiter

When this analysis is data-driven, teams gain balance, visibility and greater efficiency.

Key benefits

• Higher productivity
• Better workload distribution
• Data-driven decision-making

How to improve it

• Provide targeted training
• Automate repetitive tasks
• Redefine responsibilities when necessary

What if all of this could be monitored automatically?

With Velora’s Data Analytics, every metric mentioned above —and many more— is available in real time, with no spreadsheets or manual calculations.

You log in, visualise everything clearly, share reports instantly, and make decisions based on reliable data. From identifying the recruiter who closes roles fastest to spotting bottlenecks in your funnel or knowing which sourcing channels perform best for each role.