This blog post was originally published on April 17, 2023, and was updated on December 6, 2024.
Understanding which recruiting metrics to track is vital to the success of your hiring efforts. But tracking your progress can be a challenge if you don’t have a baseline to measure against. Watching cost per hire decline to application numbers increase is a great way to tell if your results are improving, but those figures don’t give any indication of how your campaigns are faring compared to your competitors. For that, you need recruitment metrics benchmarks.
How to Set Recruitment Metrics Benchmarks
There are a number of ways to identify and set baseline metrics and KPIs for your hiring campaigns.
Internal Data
Comparing against your own previous campaigns is better than nothing. Look at your own historical data to establish a baseline and identify areas for improvement. This can help you identify trends, patterns, and issues and set realistic goals for the future.
Pro Tip: If you don’t have historical metrics, start tracking today and look back on them in a month, a quarter, or a year to set new recruiting metrics benchmarks.
Industry Metrics
You’re not the only organisation collecting and analysing hiring metrics. Research standards and best practices for your industry to identify current recruitment metrics benchmarks and learn what metrics companies like yours are tracking.
Don’t Forget: Be sure to consider the unique characteristics of your organisation (size, location, the roles you’re hiring for) to set recruiting metrics benchmarks tailored to your needs and goals.
Benchmark Reports
If you’re lucky, there may be professional organisations or associations in your field that publish recruitment metrics benchmark reports that offer a wealth of information on recruitment metrics for different companies and job functions in your industry. (Think APSCo UK’s annual Recruitment Index, for example.)
Regardless of where you source your benchmarks, regularly tracking and analysing your own metrics against benchmarks will empower you to continuously improve your hiring strategies and achieve your goals.
Generic Recruiting Metrics Benchmarks
Ideally, your benchmarks will be rooted in a combination of industry research, historical data analysis, and consideration of organisational and role-specific factors. But here are some generic benchmarks for key recruitment metrics you can use as a starting point.
1. Click-Through Rate Benchmark
How to calculate CTR: Divide the number of clicks on your job ad by the number of impressions (the number of times your ad was displayed).
Generic benchmark CTR: What constitutes a “good” click-through rate depends heavily on where your job ad is being displayed. Remember, these benchmarks are across all industries, not just for recruitment campaigns.
- Display ads (like those in Google search results): between 6% and 7%
- Facebook: 0.89% (this is because FB users are less likely to be looking for your content than people using Google search)
- Banner ads: 0.46%
- LinkedIn: 0.67%
2. Cost Per Click Benchmark
How to calculate CPC: Divide your total advertising costs by the total number of clicks your ad received.
Generic benchmark CPC: The average CPC for recruitment campaigns in the UK varies by platform and industry, but here are a few averages:
- Job boards: From £0.15 to £1.50
- Google ads: From £0.10 to £20
- Facebook ads: From £0.80 to £2
- LinkedIn ads: From £3 to £6
3. Cost Per Hire Benchmark
How to calculate cost per hire: Add up all costs associated with your recruitment campaigns and divide by the number of hires during that same period.
Generic benchmark cost per hire: CIPD estimates the average cost of filling a vacancy, including labour costs, is £6,125 — but that number jumps to £19,000 if you’re hiring for management positions.
Cost per hire can vary widely by industry, role, and location. We recommend setting your own benchmark for this statistic and using it to measure future campaigns.
You can also look at the past performance of your hiring team by asking questions like:
- Did we meet our hiring goals compared to other quarters?
- Have we reduced the time and costs associated with hiring?
- How effective are our sourcing channels?
- Has our attrition rate of new hires increased or decreased?
4. Applicant to Hire Ratio Benchmark
How to calculate your applicant-to-hire ratio: Divide the number of positions you filled successfully by the total number of applications received for that recruitment campaign.
Generic applicant-to-hire ratio benchmark: PageUp research indicates that, worldwide and across all industries, employers need 25 applications for each hire, but benchmarks may be higher or lower in different verticals and geographic locations.
5. Time to Hire Benchmark Benchmark
How to calculate time to fill: Track the number of days it takes to fill each post (from the time the vacancy is identified until it is filled) and divide the number of vacancies filled by the total number of days spent filling them.
Generic time to fill benchmark:
| Time to fill | US average | UK & Ireland | Rest of Europe | Rest of world |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Overall |
43 |
48 |
53 |
47 |
|
Customer Service |
33 |
34 |
42 |
36 |
|
Engineering |
58 |
58 |
56 |
56 |
|
Healthcare |
29 |
29 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Human Resources |
45 |
42 |
44 |
45 |
|
Information Technology |
50 |
55 |
57 |
47 |
|
Marketing |
43 |
51 |
52 |
47 |
|
Product Management |
50 |
67 |
56 |
57 |
|
Sales |
40 |
47 |
53 |
48 |
Source: Academy to Innovate HR
Outperform Recruitment Benchmarks with Hirematic
If your organisation is struggling to meet or exceed recruiting metrics benchmarks — whether you’re measuring against your own internal data or industry standards — Hirematic can help. Our omnichannel recruitment marketing platform helps you centralise campaigns across multiple job boards, social media platforms, and other communications channels, automatically optimises your job ad campaigns, and converts your recruitment data into actionable insights that drive growth. Contact us today to learn more.
