Time to Fill: Agencies Taking Longer to Submit Winning Candidates

Pulling data from a sample of 50 customers that had postings on BountyJobs in both 2013 and 2014, we found that our research brought up some interesting findings about the employer and agency relationship.

In 2014, recruiting agencies are taking more time submitting winning candidates, and that may have implications for employers that are slow to communicate with their agencies.

Time to Fill is Up Everywhere

We collected data on a subset of BountyJobs largest customers, 50 employers from every industry and geography in the US, but limited to companies that used the marketplace for both 2013 and 2014.

Here are the findings.

BountyJobs Findings:

1. The market has heated up dramatically, with the sample companies on pace to fill 1350 jobs through search firms in 2014 as opposed to 780 jobs in 2013, a whopping 70% increase.
2. Once agencies are engaged on a search, they tend to submit candidates early. The data shows the average job posting gets candidates within 8 days.
3. Although companies get candidates quickly, however, it’s taking them longer to get the right one. When BountyJobs analyzed how long it took agencies to submit the candidate that was ultimately hired, that time increased 14% (from 31 to 35 days).

Between this year and last, time to fill from agencies on BountyJobs is up 7% from last year, which is in line with other recent findings across all sources of recruiting.

In 2013 there was no shortage of candidates, but what’s different in 2014 is that successful agencies are taking a bit longer to find and submit them.

What Does This Mean?

More candidates are on the market looking for jobs, and with the housing market getting stronger, more candidates are willing to relocate. On top of that, headhunters are able to find and submit candidates faster than ever.

All of these factors, combined with the increase in employers hiring for agency qualified positions ($75k+ salary), mean more opportunities available for quality candidates.

Chris Mason, Director of Sales and Accounts at BountyJobs, gave this insight into our findings,

“In the past employers might have been able to take their time with a longer, drawn out interview process, and yet still have their top candidates available at the end of the day. Those days are gone.

It is not uncommon for an employer to receive a great candidate within a few days, but if they don’t move quickly, or feel they have not seen enough candidates to pull the trigger, the candidate is going to have another offer and will be off the market. This has caused many employers to have to go back to square one with their searches, increasing their time to fill.”

Our advice? Don’t be shy if you think a candidate is a right fit, trust your gut and get them in the door before it is too late!