What Makes a Good Hiring Funnel Great? A Cheat Sheet for Recruiters

Your organization’s hiring funnel allows candidates to be fed at volume into your applicant tracking system at the wide-mouthed top. The funnel then naturally narrows the field as applicants progress through stages until the final candidates come out at the bottom, hopeful for an offer.

There’s a difference between a good hiring funnel and a great hiring funnel, and that difference affects your results. Here are 4 simple stages to making a good hiring funnel great, and improving Quality of Hire.

1. Application Stage

A good hiring funnel has a well-thought-out application stage designed to encourage application completion (92% of job seekers who start an online application don’t finish it) and gather critical data about each applicant, automatically adding it to an applicant tracking system (ATS). 

A great hiring funnel accomplishes this while using recruiting automation to make the application process as easy and fast as possible. Ideally, candidates will be able to complete the initial application and attach their resume on their mobile device with as few steps as possible.

2. Screening Stage

A good hiring funnel includes pre-screening processes that filter out obvious bad matches and help candidates self-determine whether or not to continue with the application process. These processes often rely heavily on pre-hire assessments. In fact, 75% of big companies use at least one assessment as a way to screen applicants.

However, too many demands too early in the recruitment pipeline can make candidates feel their time isn’t being respected, and such assessments aren’t always good predictors of Quality of Hire. A great hiring funnel is structured so that such pre-hire assessments and tests are only used as a supplement, not for standalone decisions. They also don’t cause top talent to self-select out of the process. 

3. Interview Stage

A good hiring funnel helps send the right candidates for interviews, showing that recruiters are attuned to and aligned with what hiring managers are looking for in a candidate. In contrast, when a lot of candidates get scheduled for interviews but no one gets an offer, there’s a disconnect somewhere in the process.

A great hiring funnel doesn’t just focus on choosing the right candidates for interviewing but makes sure they don’t lose the applicant before they get them to that interview. 60% of recruiters say losing candidates before an interview is able to be scheduled is a woefully common occurrence.

4. Offer Stage

A good hiring funnel makes sure an offer is made promptly once the right candidate is identified, working swiftly to get decision-makers to agree on a selection. Candidates who don’t get an offer quickly after a good interview may assume another candidate was chosen and take a competitor’s offer.

A great hiring funnel makes sure that positive candidate engagement is extended to more than just the applicant receiving an offer. The runners-up should be nurtured even as they exit the funnel for the role in question, as they could end up being ideal for another role in the future. Fact: unselected candidates are 4x more likely to consider a company for future opportunities if they are simply provided thoughtful feedback.

Use these simple steps to ensure your hiring funnel isn’t just good enough to find the best candidates, but great enough to attract, hire, and retain top talent. You’ll create stronger relationships with top candidates, build a reputation as a company that respects job applicants, and improve Quality of Hire across your organization.

To learn how Crosschq’s Hiring Intelligence Platform™ can take your hiring funnel from good to great, contact us for a free demo today.