What a Well-Structured Hiring Pipeline Looks Like
A well-structured pipeline has clear stages, defined entry and exit criteria for each stage, an owner for each active candidate, and a system that makes it impossible to accidentally forget someone. For most roles the stages look like: Applied, Screen Scheduled, Screened, Assessment Sent, Assessment Complete, Interview Scheduled, Interview Complete, Debrief, Offer, Closed.
The Most Common Failure Points
Candidates Going Cold
A candidate completes their assessment or interview and then doesn't hear from you for 10 days. They take another offer. You reach out with an offer and they're gone. The fix is a maximum-days-in-stage rule. No candidate should sit in any single stage for more than 5 business days without receiving a communication from your team.
Lost in Email
When candidate communications happen primarily in individual recruiter inboxes rather than centralized systems, knowledge disappears when that recruiter is out sick or leaves the company. Every candidate communication should be logged against the candidate record in your ATS.
How to Set Up Stages and SLAs
- Application to first contact: 2 business days maximum
- Screen complete to assessment sent: 1 business day
- Assessment received to interview scheduled: 2 business days
- Interview complete to debrief and decision: 2 business days
- Decision to offer extended: 1 business day
Metrics Every Recruiter Should Track
- Stage-by-stage conversion rate: What percentage of candidates advance from each stage? A low rate at any specific stage identifies where your process is losing people.
- Average days in each stage: Where are candidates waiting the longest?
- Offer acceptance rate: If it's below 80%, your offers aren't competitive, your process took too long, or both.
- Sourcing channel conversion: Which sources produce candidates who convert to offers at the highest rate?