You don't have a hiring problem. You have a middle-funnel problem.
Every tool you've bought fixes sourcing. The leak is between sourcing and decisions. That's where $75,000/year disappears.
Your ATS has 340 applicants for the Backend role. You screened 20. Sent them to the hiring manager. He rejected all 20. Never told you what "good" means.
You spent 3 days scheduling one interview. 14 emails. The candidate cancelled.
Your engineer did a screen on Tuesday. You asked for feedback. He said: "Maybe."
Your VP asked "Where are we on this role?" You said "Working on it." Inside you're thinking: I have 340 candidates and nobody will interview them.
If this is your week, keep reading.
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LinkedIn says the average role takes 42 days to fill. They're right about the number. Wrong about the cause.
Here's the real breakdown:
| What | Days | The Truth |
|---|---|---|
| Sourcing | 3 days | Fast, if the right people are applying. Often they aren't. |
| Scheduling interviews | 14 days | 14 emails per interview. Reschedules. Conflicts. This is your #1 leak. |
| Waiting for feedback | 8 days | "Not a strong yes." "Maybe." You can't calibrate with that. |
| Waiting for decisions | 7 days | Two engineers disagree. Nobody wrote anything down. 45-minute debrief argument. |
| Offer approval | 7 days | Could be 1 day with pre-approved salary bands. |
| Actual evaluation work | 3 days | This is the only part that matters. |
6 days of real work. 36 days of waiting. Every tool you've bought optimizes the 3-day sourcing part. Nobody's fixing the 36-day waiting part.