Candidate drop-out and time to hire in 2026 Benchmark data helps organisations understand whether their own recruitment performance is typical, ahead of the market, or falling behind. The following figures draw on published UK labour market data, recruitment industry surveys, and Department for Education statistics. Time to hire across the UK UK hiring timelines have lengthened in recent years. The average time to […] Read more »
Questions to ask candidates who withdrew from your process Most organisations gather feedback from candidates at two points: those who were successful, and occasionally those who were rejected. Candidates who withdrew partway through the process, choosing to stop applying before a decision was made either way, are rarely asked anything at all. This is a significant gap. A candidate who withdraws has made an […] Read more »
Why one application process does not work for every role Most organisations run one application process. Whichever role is advertised, whether it is a cleaner, a caretaker, a teaching assistant, or a senior manager, the candidate is directed to broadly the same form, asking for broadly the same information, in broadly the same format. This works reasonably well for some candidates and poorly for others, […] Read more »
Why most organisations do not know what their candidate journey actually looks like Ask any HR director or recruitment lead to describe their candidate journey and they will generally do so with confidence. They will outline the process: the role is advertised, applications are received, shortlisting takes place, interviews are arranged, and an offer is made. It sounds coherent. It sounds considered. The difficulty is that this describes […] Read more »
