Providing data-driven recruiting means using the right candidate experience metrics. If you’re only tracking basic satisfaction scores, you’re missing a big opportunity. You want to measure what matters most across every step of hiring and for each talent acquisition team member.
Our whitepaper, “The Data Driven Candidate Experience Maturity Model,” showed that strong candidate experiences boost hire quality, offer acceptance, and candidate engagement. Now we’ve taken those ideas further. In our new guide, “Key Metrics for Data Driven Candidate Experience,” we lay out essential talent acquisition metrics for each TA role and offer sample dashboards.
Why Track Metrics by Role?
Each position in TA focuses on different tasks. And each needs unique data:
- Recruiters manage sourcing, screening, scheduling, and candidate care. They need recruiter metrics like time-to-contact and candidate NPS.
- Hiring managers assess skills and fit. They need feedback on their interview style and candidate satisfaction.
- TA managers oversee recruiting teams. They need measures like process adherence and recruiter performance scorecards.
- TA directors look at divisional output. They need offer acceptance rate and candidate flow metrics.
- Heads of TA track strategic goals like hiring pipeline health and diversity across positions.
- CHROs look at TA in the context of broader HR metrics.
- CEO’s need clear KPIs tied to company performance and hiring impact.
Tailoring metrics by role ensures accountability and helps each stakeholder act on areas they can influence.
Core Candidate Experience Metrics to Track
Here are key recruiting performance metrics that matter at every level:
- Time to fill – How long it takes to hire once a job is open
- Time to first contact – Speed of recruiter response after apply
- Candidate NPS – Would they recommend applying?
- Offer acceptance rate – How many accept vs. decline
- Interview-to-offer conversion – Who moves from chat to job offer
- Quality of hire – Early performance from new hires
- Candidate drop-off – Where candidates quit the process
- Sourcing effectiveness – Which source delivers best candidates
Using these, TA teams can track and share results with their leaders.
Metrics by TA Role
Here’s an outline of the talent acquisition dashboard for each role:
Recruiter
- Time to first contact
- Candidate satisfaction after interview
- Source-to-screen ratio
Hiring Manager
- Interview satisfaction
- Offer acceptance from their candidates
- Quality of hire post-90 days
TA Manager
- Team interview quality averages
- Fill time by role
- Hiring manager satisfaction
Director of TA
- Total open positions vs. filled
- Offer acceptance rate across roles
- Candidate NPS by stage
Head of TA / CHRO
- Strategic metrics: hire cost per role, conversion rates, overall NPS
- Talent pipeline health
CEO
- Hiring impact metrics like improved performance, lower attrition, and growth in new roles
Build Tailored Recruiter Scorecard Metrics
A recruiter scorecard helps recruiters focus on key targets like:
- Contacting applicants within 24 hours
- Maintaining 80% completion for candidate surveys
- Getting ≥50% interview to offer conversion
- Keeping candidate NPS ≥ 7
Scorecards create clear goals and tracking for each recruiter.
Why Visual Dashboards Matter
A strong talent acquisition metrics dashboard shows trends instantly. Recruiters and leaders can see what’s working—and what isn’t—in real time.
For example:
- A spike in candidate drop-off at onsite interviews?
You can view candidate NPS by stage and address interview quality quickly. - Lower offer acceptance?
Compare acceptance rates by role or manager to spot the cause.
Dashboards help hold roles accountable and drive improvement.
Building Your Metrics Framework
Here’s how to put this in place:
- Define core metrics for each TA role
- Connect surveys to ATS events for real-time feedback
- Create dashboards with clear benchmarks
- Review monthly with recruiters, hiring managers, and leaders
- Adjust processes based on metric trends
- Track long-term gains in assessing candidate experience across teams
Final Word
If you want a truly data-informed TA function, you need well-designed metrics for every role. That means using surveys and ATS links to generate real-time feedback.
When recruiters, managers, and leadership have role-specific talent sourcing metrics, they can act and improve—and hire better.
Whether for recruiter scorecards or exec dashboards, the right candidate sourcing metrics bring clarity and accountability to the talent acquisition process.
FAQs
What are some common recruiting metrics?
Common ones include time to fill, source conversion, candidate satisfaction scores, offer acceptance rate, and quality of hire.
What are the KPIs for recruitment?
KPIs include recruiter response speed, interview-to-offer ratio, offer acceptance rate, candidate NPS, and time to hire.
What are the 3 P’s of recruitment?
They are People, Process, and Performance—focusing on who you hire, how you hire, and how well hires perform.
How do you measure recruitment effectiveness?
Measure through time-to-fill, candidate feedback, conversion rates, hire quality, and offer acceptance trends.
