How long tech hiring should take, stage by stage
“When could we have someone in?” It’s one of the first things we’re asked at a kick-off meeting, sometimes before we’ve even discussed the profile. It’s a fair question, and the honest answer comes in two parts: one that depends on the market, and another, usually bigger, that depends on your own internal process.
What follows is the timeline we use as a reference for a well-run tech search, stage by stage. These aren’t market figures or a promise. Think of it as a starting point for building your own timeline and seeing where the days slip away.
Every week changes who’s left at the end
Experienced tech and digital people often have several conversations going at once, even when they aren’t looking. Each week of waiting between stages is a chance for another company to move faster, or for their current employer to improve their terms. A slow process doesn’t just take longer. It ends with different finalists.
Rushing isn’t the answer either. Skipping stages or deciding on thin information is the quickest way to get it wrong. What we’re after is a process with no dead time, which isn’t the same thing as a short one.
Before you look for anyone (one week)
The first week is for the team to agree on what it needs: an internal briefing, a meeting with your recruitment partner if you have one, a signed-off salary range and a defined process.
It looks like the easy part, but this is where many later delays get planted. A budget approval that doesn’t come through, or a director from another area who sees the profile differently once candidates are already interviewing. What works best is getting everyone who decides into the same session and not starting the search until the profile and the range are settled.
Search and shortlist (two to three weeks)
This is when you map the market, approach people directly and have the first conversations. How long it takes depends heavily on how scarce the profile is. A role with a broad market can produce candidates within days, while a very specific profile or a leadership role needs more time to approach people properly.
When this stage drags, it’s almost always for one of two reasons. Either the profile isn’t realistic and has to be rethought halfway through, or the company’s pitch doesn’t land and passive candidates don’t reply. A useful signal: if several people turn you down for the same reason in the first two weeks (usually pay or working set-up), deal with it now rather than in week three.
The shortlist arrives at the end of the search. For us that means a small number of candidates we’ve already assessed, with a report on each covering background, motivation, expectations and what’s still to explore. The bottleneck here is usually on the company side, in finding time to review them. Put the review meeting in the diary on the day the search starts and you’ll save yourself a week.
Interviews (two to three weeks)
For most tech roles, a balanced process has three steps: an interview with the hiring manager, a technical assessment or case study, and a final interview with whoever makes the decision, which may include meeting the team.
This is where we see the most days lost, and for fairly predictable reasons. What we usually suggest:
- Block slots in interviewers’ diaries before the shortlist arrives, not after.
- Decide within 24 to 48 hours of each interview whether the person moves on.
- Drop stages that assess something you’ve already seen.
- Combine steps where you can, such as the technical exercise and meeting the team on the same day.
- Swap multi-day tests that candidates do in their spare time for focused exercises or a conversation about their own real projects.
References and offer (one week)
Taking references, preparing the offer and negotiating it should fit into a week. When it doesn’t, it’s usually because the offer needs internal approvals nobody planned for, or because a surprise on pay or terms comes up that was never discussed at the start.
Both are avoided the same way, by talking about pay expectations from the very first conversation and having the offer pre-approved within the range. One more detail that makes a difference: make the offer by phone or in person before you send it in writing.
The notice period counts too
Once the person accepts, they still have to leave their current employer. The notice period depends on the collective agreement and their contract, and for leadership roles it can be considerably longer. If you’re unsure in a particular case, check with an employment lawyer.
Strictly speaking this isn’t recruitment any more, but the seat is still empty and it’s a delicate moment, because counter-offers arrive and other processes are still open. Stay in touch. Send onboarding information, invite them for a coffee with the team or share the plan for their first weeks.
Add it all up and a well-run process for a team-level tech role can reach an accepted offer in roughly six to eight weeks from the day the search opens. Leadership roles and very scarce profiles tend to be slower, mostly at the search stage.
Write down the real dates
If you want to know where your days go, track them. In your next few searches, note the date each stage starts and finishes. After a handful of hires you’ll see where the delays pile up, and it isn’t always where you’d expect.
We can shorten the search and help you keep the pace through the rest, but the days that weigh most usually come down to internal decisions. If you’d like to go through your own timeline with the Mimmic Talent team, drop us a line.