Tracking, analyzing, and acting on key metrics is critical to the success of a recruiting operation. Some of the most basic metrics are the interview-to-offer and offer-to-acceptance rates. These can help you identify problems—and successes—in your recruiting operations both with full-time hiring and intern/co-op programs.
Formulas for calculating rates
Interview-to-offer rate = (# of unique offers extended/total number of applicants interviewed) x 100
Currently, the average interview-to-offer rate is 47.5%—approximately 48 of every 100 candidates interviewed received an offer. For example, an organization meeting this benchmark interviewed 200 applicants and extended 95 unique offers; expressed as a formula, this is (95 /200) x 100 = 47.5%.
Offer-to-acceptance rate = ( # of offers accepted/# of offers extended) x 100
The current average offer-to-acceptance rate is 69.3%, meaning approximately 69 of every 100 offers extended were accepted. For example, an organization meeting this benchmark extended offers to 200 candidates, and 138 of those offers were accepted—(138/200) x 100 = 69%.
It is important to acknowledge that there are factors beyond your control that can affect your rates. For example, in a strong economy, the average acceptance rate tends to dip, as candidates have multiple offers to consider. Similarly, if the organization’s brand has taken a hit or the job’s location is an issue, the size of the applicant pool and acceptance rate may be affected. However, organizations do have control over much of what affects these rates.
Get the big picture by tracking over time
A key advantage to tracking all metrics over time is that it gives you the big picture. Year-over-year rates can help you see how your operation is performing long term and help you identify problems so that you can correct the issues and work to avoid the same problems in the future. For example, see a dip in your offer rate? This suggests that you are interviewing a greater number of candidates who do not meet your criteria than was the case previously. What is driving that—what factors that you can control may be contributing to that?
On the plus side, examining your rates over time can also highlight what your operation is doing well so that you can focus resources on that process or effort and demonstrate its value. For example, many organizations have found that, over time, having an internship program to feed full-time hiring efforts results in a better retention rate.
Compare your stats to those of your peers
Benchmarking against others can alert you to a problem so that you can examine—and hopefully correct—the issue.
It can also signal a change that is affecting others as well. For example, you might see that your acceptance rate, while lower than it has been in the past, is in line with others’ rates, suggesting that there are factors outside of your operation that are contributing to the change, e.g., a strong economy, an increase in demand for a particular skill set, and so forth. Note that knowing this does not give you license to ignore the change—you will want to consider what you may be able to do to counter the competition—but it does give you a starting point from which operate.
Additional formulas
There are a host of metrics that can help you strengthen efforts, build on success, and demonstrate the value of your recruiting program. For a detailed list of formulas, including more-sophisticated takes on the interview, offer, acceptance metrics, e.g., application interview rate and applicant to hire rate, see the Professional Standards for University Relations and Recruiting, Chapter III.
Current benchmarks for recruiting, internship/co-op programs
Current recruiting benchmarks are available through the 2022 Recruiting Benchmarks Report; if you or someone at your organization took part, you will find a copy of the report in MyNACE. An executive summary is also available.
FAQs
Currently, the average interview-to-offer rate is 47.5%—approximately 48 of every 100 candidates interviewed received an offer. For example, an organization meeting this benchmark interviewed 200 applicants and extended 95 unique offers; expressed as a formula, this is (95 /200) x 100 = 47.5%.
How do you calculate interview to offer ratio? ›
The interview to offer ratio is a metric used in the HR world to measure the effectiveness of the recruitment process. It is calculated by dividing the number of job offers made by the number of interviews conducted.
What is the formula for offer acceptance rate? ›
How is the offer acceptance rate calculated? Calculating the offer acceptance rate is quite simple: The number of accepted job offers is divided by the number of offers made and then multiplied by 100. The formula is, therefore: Offer acceptance rate = (number of accepted offers / number of job offers made) X 100.
What is a good interview to offer percentage? ›
Hiring managers should strive to maintain an interview-to-offer ratio of 3:1 or better. The average is about 4, but this can vary depending on the position and company culture. How do you calculate the acceptance rate?
What is the formula for acceptance rate? ›
Determine the total number of applicants. Determine the number of applicants accepted. Apply the acceptance rate formula: acceptance rate = number of applicants accepted / total number of applicants × 100 .
What is the 80 20 ratio for an interview? ›
As a rule of thumb, it is recommended that you spend just 20% of your preparation time researching the company in question, and 80% of your time focusing on yourself and your relevant skills and experience.
What is the formula for selection ratio? ›
Selection Ratio = Number of Hires / Number of Applicants Because it is a ratio, the selection ratio's value must range between 0 and 1 (theoretically it really ranges from -1 to 1, but in the real world you will never find a negative selection ratio in a hiring situation), with 0 indicating a low selection ratio and 1 ...
What is the acceptance rate scale? ›
According to the latest data by Research.com, the average acceptance rate for American universities and colleges is around 67% or higher. An acceptance rate of 50% or higher is considered a high admission rate, while a 10% or lower is considered low, typically seen among Ivy League acceptance rates.
What is the acceptance rule of offer? ›
The traditional contract law rule is that an acceptance must be the mirror image of the offer. Attempts by offerees to change the terms of the offer or to add new terms to it are treated as counteroffers because they impliedly indicated an intent by the offeree to reject the offer instead of being bound by its terms.
Where can I find accurate acceptance rates? ›
The most obvious place to look for this information is the website of the college itself. Many schools have pages within their admissions site with information on application numbers, admission rates, median GPAs, and test scores from the most-recently admitted class, and more.
According to Zippia, job seekers have a 26.24% probability of receiving a job offer. And researchers have found that the average number of interviews before getting a job offer is anywhere between 10 and 20, with every application having an 8.3% chance of proceeding to the interviewing stage.
What is a reasonable acceptance rate? ›
Public colleges tended to have a slightly higher acceptance rate (around 78%) than private colleges (around 70%). This average changes from year to year. For instance, for applications submitted in the fall of 2021, the average acceptance rate was 72.6%. In the fall of 2020, the average was 70%.
Is 30% acceptance rate good? ›
College Admissions Profiles. Schools that accept between 20 and 40% of applicants are considered to be competitive–though not overwhelmingly selective.
What does a 7% acceptance rate mean? ›
Most highly selective colleges now have acceptance rates in the single digits. This means that fewer than 10% of students who apply will ultimately be offered a place there. But in order to boast a low acceptance rate, a school must do more than attract top students.
What is a 5% acceptance rate? ›
For example, if an elite university admits 5% of applicants, but the school receives 50,000 applications, that still means that 2,500 students have been accepted. In contrast, if you apply to a school with a 50% acceptance rate, but that school only receives 5,000 applicants, the school admits 2,500.
What is the formula for offer in compromise? ›
The formula for this one is: (available income per month x 12) + amount of available assets based on Form 433-A(OIC) = Amount IRS will accept for an Offer In Compromise that is paid within 5 months of acceptance.
