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Data-Driven Recruiting: Getting Started with the Help of a Spreadsheet

In Hiring Software & Tools — by Dave Anderson

hiring-spreadsheet

Image courtesy of craigmoulding

Hiring is one of the biggest challenges companies face. Finding the right person for a specific role is hard enough. But efficiently moving through each stage in the hiring process is arguably more difficult.

You have to attract candidates from multiple sources, review each one, schedule interviews that accommodate everyone’s schedule, consistently evaluate the finalists and ultimately select and hire the ideal candidate. A lot can go off the rails or get held up with a long, multi-step process like hiring.

Using an applicant tracking system, like Trakstar Hire, will make your hiring efforts run much smoother. However, we understand not every business is ready to implement recruiting software.

In these cases, we recommend tracking your hiring efforts in a trusty spreadsheet. You can determine what information is important to keep an eye on and plug it in for each role, as it becomes available. After a while, you’ll have a document full of illuminating insights that help you understand what steps in the hiring process you succeed at and what steps need more attention.

Since every company has its own unique hiring process, the layout of your perfect spreadsheet is really up to you. However, the information below should help you get started.

Tracking your candidate sources

There are various ways you can source candidates but some channels are more effective than others. For instance, job boards might result in more candidates than email outreach or an employee referral program but many of those applicants will be unqualified for the job. Tracking this information can help you determine what channels are worth your time and effort.

candidate-sources

In the example above, we’re tracking the total candidates, favorable candidates and candidates interviewed by role for job boards (Indeed and LinkedIn). We’re also tracking candidates contacted, responses and candidates interviewed for an email outreach program (email and LinkedIn messaging).

The data differentiates between the candidates who apply and the ones who are actually qualified for the role and worthy of an interview. We’re seeing that job boards are fine for junior-level roles but a more hands-on recruiting approach is needed for senior roles.

Moving through the interview stage in a timely fashion

As the hiring process moves from the sourcing to the interview stage, you’ll need to shift gears. You have to efficiently schedule interviews with both your candidates and internal hiring team. Staying on schedule, while still tracking candidate movement through your hiring pipeline, is the name of the game.

interview-experience

In the example above, we’re tracking total candidates interviewed, finalists and time to interview. We’re again seeing ideal candidates are rarer for senior level roles, making for a longer hiring process. However, be sure to consult this document if you start to have candidates remove themselves from contention or turn down offers. It could be a sign that you’re taking too long to schedule interviews and follow up with candidates.

Consistently evaluate each candidate

The candidate evaluation stage often occurs during interviews. Your hiring team should ask questions that help them learn more about each person’s skills and personality.

It’s important to evaluate each candidate on the same criteria, in a measurable way. You can accomplish this by providing each interviewer with a rubric they use to rate each candidate on a 1-to-5 scale for a series of questions. Interviewers can often get caught up in minor details, like how a candidate answers a specific question or a certain aspect of their resume. But a rubric forces them to focus on what really matters.

candidate-evaluation

In the example above, we’re viewing the average score each candidate was given for each question. Between this data and the anecdotal information provided by your hiring team, you should have a solid idea of who your first-choice candidate is.

Understanding your end-to-end hiring process

As time goes on and you hire for various roles, your spreadsheet will become filled with a lot of useful data. At this point, you can take a step back from tracking progress for specific roles and measure the effectiveness of your company’s hiring process as a whole.

hiring-process-metrics

In the example above, we’re tracking average time to interview, time to fill, offer acceptance rate and new hire retention rate. Time to fill is the total number of days from when a job opening is posted to when an employment offer is accepted, with time to interview being the number of days to start the interview stage.

Offer acceptance rate is the percentage of employment offers accepted by candidates. It helps you understand if you’re properly articulating your role requirements and company culture, providing a positive interview experience and offering favorable compensation. New hire retention rate is the percentage of employees who stay with your company for 90 days, six months, 12 months or whatever time frame is appropriate for your company and industry.

These are only a few examples of end-to-end hiring process metrics. Figure out the ones that demonstrate hiring success for your organization and be sure to include them.

Customize your spreadsheet to your liking

The metrics and spreadsheet examples provided in this blog post are fairly basic and meant to get you on the right track toward a data-driven recruiting strategy. There are likely other data points you can track that will help you plug the leaks in your hiring efforts.

Download our free e-book “The Fundamentals of Data-Driven Recruiting.” It’s full of great advice for creating a smart and measurable recruiting and hiring process.

If you’re ready for recruiting software, sign-up for a free Trakstar Hire demo. A member of our team will show you everything our software can do.


Trakstar Hire is considered the most user friendly hiring software on the market. If you’re ready to take your recruiting and hiring to the next level, request a Trakstar Hire demo today.


Who is Trakstar?

Trakstar is a multi-product HR software provider helping organizations put the people back in people management. Develop and align your staff through better recruiting and applicant tracking, performance management, and learning management. For a more integrated solution to talent management, check out our website and request a live demonstration today.

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