Glassdoor Study Reveals Interview Process Getting Longer, Averaging About 24 Days Across 25 Countries

Hiring Takes Longest In Brazil (Averaging 39.6 days), France (38.9 days) and Switzerland (37.6 days)

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Aug 09, 2017, 08:00 ET

MILL VALLEY, Calif., Aug. 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new report from Glassdoor, the fastest growing and second largest job site in the United States¹, the time it takes to hire around the globe has risen by about a day, up to 23.7 days thus far in 2017 compared to 22.5 days in 2016. The interview process in Brazil, France and Switzerland takes the longest, while it's the shortest in India, Israel and Romania. Differences in labor market regulations largely drive the differences in hiring times, the study showed.

As an expansion of a Glassdoor Economic Research study that outlined hiring durations in five countries and found the hiring process in the U.S. took 22.9 days in 2014, this study, How Long Does it Take to Hire? Interview Duration in 25 Countries, reveals how long it takes to go through the interview process in 25 countries and cities around the world as well as highlights interview process duration by city, industry and job title in the United States.

This study is based on nearly 84,000 interview reviews shared on Glassdoor by interview candidates between January 1, 2017 to June 13, 2017.

Hiring in Brazil Takes the Longest, But Why?

Across countries, there is a wide range in the number of days it takes to complete the interview process, which is considered the time it takes to interview at a company, from application submission to receiving an offer or rejection letter. In the United States, the average hiring duration thus far in 2017 is 23.8 days, which is on par with the global average but slightly up from 2014 (22.9 days). However, several countries greatly outpace the global average, with hiring in 2017 taking as long as an average of 39.6 days in Brazil, followed by France (38.9 days) and Switzerland (37.6 days). By contrast, the shortest interview processes are reported in India (16.1 days), Israel (16.9 days) and Romania (19.2 days).

"Glassdoor's study found that the more regulatory hurdles companies face within their local labor markets, the more difficult it will be to hire — and fire — employees, directly impacting how long it takes to fill open roles," said Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor's chief economist. "The longer it takes to hire, the greater the productivity loss for employers. And, the longer money is left on the table waiting for potential candidates."

Washington, D.C. is Slowest to Hire in the U.S.

Within the United States, not all cities take the same amount of time to hire talent. Home to many federal government agencies, the interview process in Washington, D.C. takes the longest at 32.2 days, followed by Albany, N.Y. and Richmond, Va. at 33.2 days and 27 days, respectively. Conversely, the fastest cities to hire are Kansas City, K.A., at 16.9 days, followed by Oklahoma City, Okla. (17.9 days) and Akron, Ohio (18.0 days).

"While interviewing for one of the many government sector roles in Washington, D.C., job candidates could undergo several extra steps that lengthen the overall interview process, including additional written and verbal exams or background checks to secure various levels of security clearances, among other requirements," added Chamberlain.

Longest Interview Process Among U.S. Industries: Government

Among industries in the U.S., employers in the Government sector are the slowest to hire at 53.8 days, which is more than twice the U.S. average (23.8 days). Aerospace & Defense (32.6 days), Energy & Utilities (28.8 days), Biotech & Pharmaceuticals (28.1 days) and the Nonprofit sector (25.2 days) follow Government as the longest industries to hire for. Contrastingly, the industries with the shortest interview processes are Restaurants & Bars (10.2 days), Private Security (11.6 days), Supermarkets (12.3 days), Automotive (12.7 days) and Beauty & Fitness (13.2 days).

Professors Wait Longest to Get Hired

Some jobs, usually with high turnover rates, such as waiters (8 days), retail representatives (8.5 days) and delivery drivers (8.5 days), move very quickly through the interview process, but others take time to find the perfect candidate. Professors can expect the slowest interview process at 60.3 days, which is more than twice the U.S. average, followed by business systems analysts (44.8 days), research scientists (44.6 days), flight attendants (43.6 days) and communications specialists (42.5 days).

To learn more about this study or to see the full data sets, visit the Glassdoor Economic Research blog.

For more on how job candidates can determine how long their hiring process should take, visit the Glassdoor blog.

To speak with Dr. Chamberlain regarding this research and/or labor market and hiring trends: [email protected].

About Glassdoor
Glassdoor is one of the largest and fastest growing job sites in the world today. Set apart by the tens of millions of reviews and insights provided by employees and candidates, Glassdoor combines all the jobs with this valuable data to make it easy for people to find a job that is uniquely right for them. As a result, Glassdoor helps employers hire truly informed candidates at scale through effective recruiting solutions like job advertising and employer branding products. Launched in 2008, Glassdoor now has reviews and insights for approximately 700,000 companies in more than 190 countries. For labor market trends and analysis, visit Glassdoor Economic Research. For company news and career advice and tips, visit the Glassdoor Blog and for employer-related news and insights to help employers hire, visit the Glassdoor for Employers Blog. Visit Glassdoor.com or download our apps on iOS and Android platforms.

Glassdoor® is a registered trademark of Glassdoor, Inc.

¹Based on unique users, custom job list sites % Change Media Trend Report, Comscore June 2017 Media Metrix®; Compared to Indeed.com, CareerBuilder.com, Monster.com and ZipRecruiter.com.

SOURCE Glassdoor