Which conversion rate should worry me most?

Whichever one is lowest relative to the stages around it. A steep drop from interview to offer usually means the bar or the process itself, not the sourcing that got people there.

Offer-to-hire looks fine but I still feel like I lose good people. Why?

Check screen-to-interview instead. A funnel can look healthy at the bottom while quietly filtering out strong candidates earlier, before they ever reach someone who could tell.

How do I use the applicants-per-hire number?

To size the next round. If one hire needs 65 applicants at your current conversion rates, a job post that only reaches 40 people is unlikely to fill the role without a wider net or a better funnel.

Hiring funnel calculator

A funnel tells you where candidates drop off, which a single "applicants to hires" ratio never can.

Put in the count at each stage and this works out the conversion between every pair of stages, plus how many applicants your funnel needs to produce one hire.

Applicants needed per hire

Overall conversion of 1.5% from applicant to hire

Applicants: 200
Passed resume screen: 50
Reached interview: 20
Received an offer: 5
Hired: 3

Everything above is worked out in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to us or saved anywhere.

How this is worked out

Each stage-to-stage conversion divides one stage’s count by the count before it.
The headline ratio divides total applicants by total hires, so you know how large a pipeline the current funnel needs to produce one hire.

What this does not cover

This is a snapshot of one requisition, not a rolling average. Mix several very different roles together and the ratios stop meaning much.
It cannot tell you why a stage is losing people, only how much it is losing. A low offer-accept rate could be pay, timing or a competing offer.
Withdrawals and candidates you rejected are treated the same as anyone who simply did not convert; the funnel does not separate the two.

Questions people ask

Which conversion rate should worry me most?: Whichever one is lowest relative to the stages around it. A steep drop from interview to offer usually means the bar or the process itself, not the sourcing that got people there.
Offer-to-hire looks fine but I still feel like I lose good people. Why?: Check screen-to-interview instead. A funnel can look healthy at the bottom while quietly filtering out strong candidates earlier, before they ever reach someone who could tell.
How do I use the applicants-per-hire number?: To size the next round. If one hire needs 65 applicants at your current conversion rates, a job post that only reaches 40 people is unlikely to fill the role without a wider net or a better funnel.

Where these figures come from

Rates and rules on this page were last checked against the source on 31 August 2026. Tax law changes; check the source before you rely on a number for a decision.

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