The recruitment funnel visualises the recruitment process as a narrowing sequence - applicants, screened candidates, interviewed candidates, offers made, hires accepted - with the numbers shrinking at each stage.
What it means
Mapping the funnel makes drop-off visible: a large gap between screening and interview, for example, points to a different problem than a large gap between offer and acceptance, even though both reduce the final hire count.
Where it fits in
The funnel is the structure most other recruiting metrics hang off - time-to-hire and cost-per-hire are usually broken down by funnel stage to identify exactly where a process is slow or expensive, not just that it is overall.
Key rules
- Visualises recruitment as narrowing stages from applicants to hires.
- Makes stage-by-stage drop-off visible, not just the final hire count.
- Different drop-off points signal different underlying problems.
- The structure most other recruiting metrics are broken down against.
