Hiring takes far more time than most managers expect. Even a quick five-minute look at each CV adds up to more than 16 hours for 200 applicants, before anyone has had a phone call or an interview. Knowing the real time cost helps you plan recruiter capacity, set realistic time-to-hire targets, decide whether automated screening or a recruitment agency is worth it, and explain to stakeholders why a role takes weeks to fill.
This calculator follows the hiring funnel. In the screening phase you enter how long each method takes per applicant and how many people go through it – CV review, skills or assessment tests, phone screens and any other method – and how many recruiters share the work. In the interview phase you choose one to four rounds; each round has its own length and number of candidates, and you can set how many interviewers sit on each interview and how many people share the load. The offer phase covers reference checks and offer conversations for the final candidates.
Results give the hours for each phase, hours per recruiter and per interviewer, the average interview time each candidate receives, the total team effort and its cost at an hourly rate you enter.
How to use the CV Screening and Interview Time Calculator
- CV screening time per applicant
- Applicants CV-screened
- Skills / assessment screening time per applicant
- Applicants skills-screened
- Phone screening time per applicant
- Applicants phone-screened
- Other screening time per applicant
- Applicants screened by other methods
- Recruiters sharing the screening
- Interview rounds
- Round 1 – length of one interview
- Round 1 – interviewees
- Round 2 – length of one interview
- Round 2 – interviewees
- Round 3 – length of one interview
- Round 3 – interviewees
- Round 4 – length of one interview
- Round 4 – interviewees
- Interviewers in each interview (panel size)
- Interviewers sharing the interviews
- Reference checking time per candidate
- Offer discussion time per candidate
- Candidates reaching the offer stage
- Recruiters handling offers
- Average hourly cost of staff time (optional) — Salary plus overheads per hour, in your currency.
Results update as you type, every field has its own unit menu, and everything is calculated in your browser.
How it works
Fill in times (with any unit) and counts for each phase, choose the number of interview rounds and the team sizes. Each phase total is time × count summed over its steps; interviews are multiplied by the panel size; per-person figures divide by the number of people sharing the work.
Worked example
Screening: 200 CVs × 5 min + 40 skills tests × 15 min + 25 phone screens × 20 min = 2,100 min = 35 h, or 17.5 h for each of two recruiters. Interviews: 10 × 60 min + 4 × 90 min = 16 h on the calendar; with two interviewers per interview that is 32 interviewer-hours, 10.7 h for each of three interviewers, and each round-1 candidate receives 96 minutes of interviews on average. Offers: (30 + 45) min × 2 candidates = 2.5 h. Total effort = 35 + 32 + 2.5 = 69.5 h, costing $3,127.50 at $45/h – about 34.8 team hours per finalist.
How to use the result
Compare the total with the time recruiters and interviewers actually have in a week. If a hiring manager can give only 4 hours a week to interviews, 10.7 hours means almost three weeks of interviewing alone – a clear sign to shorten interviews, reduce the number of round-1 candidates or add interviewers.
Inputs explained
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| CV screening time per applicant | Units: min, h, s |
| Applicants CV-screened | A number |
| Skills / assessment screening time per applicant | Units: min, h, s |
| Applicants skills-screened | A number |
| Phone screening time per applicant | Units: min, h, s |
| Applicants phone-screened | A number |
| Other screening time per applicant | Units: min, h, s |
| Applicants screened by other methods | A number |
| Recruiters sharing the screening | A number |
| Interview rounds | Choose one: One, Two, Three, Four |
| Round 1 – length of one interview | Units: min, h, s |
| Round 1 – interviewees | A number |
| Round 2 – length of one interview | Units: min, h, s |
| Round 2 – interviewees | A number |
| Round 3 – length of one interview | Units: min, h, s |
| Round 3 – interviewees | A number |
| Round 4 – length of one interview | Units: min, h, s |
| Round 4 – interviewees | A number |
| Interviewers in each interview (panel size) | A number |
| Interviewers sharing the interviews | A number |
| Reference checking time per candidate | Units: min, h, s |
| Offer discussion time per candidate | Units: min, h, s |
| Candidates reaching the offer stage | A number |
| Recruiters handling offers | A number |
| Average hourly cost of staff time (optional) | A number. Salary plus overheads per hour, in your currency. |
What each result means
- Total screening time = [CV screening time per applicant]×[Applicants CV-screened] + [Skills ÷ assessment screening time per applicant]×[Applicants skills-screened] + [Phone screening time per applicant]×[Applicants phone-screened] + [Other screening time per applicant]×[Applicants screened by other methods]
- Screening hours per recruiter = [Total screening time]÷[Recruiters sharing the screening]
- Total interviewer time = [Interview time on the calendar]×[Interviewers in each interview (panel size)]
- Hours per interviewer = [Total interviewer time]÷[Interviewers sharing the interviews]
- Total offer-stage time = ([Reference checking time per candidate] + [Offer discussion time per candidate])×[Candidates reaching the offer stage]
- Offer-stage hours per recruiter = [Total offer-stage time]÷[Recruiters handling offers]
- Total hiring effort (all staff) = [Total screening time] + [Total interviewer time] + [Total offer-stage time]
- Total per person if the same team does every stage = [Screening hours per recruiter] + [Hours per interviewer] + [Offer-stage hours per recruiter]
- Cost of staff time = [Total hiring effort (all staff)]÷3600×[Average hourly cost of staff time (optional)]
Example values
How the main result changes when CV screening time per applicant changes and everything else stays at the example values above:
| CV screening time per applicant (min) | Total hiring effort (all staff) (h) |
|---|---|
| 2.5 | 61.2 |
| 3.75 | 65.3 |
| 5 | 69.5 |
| 6.25 | 73.7 |
| 7.5 | 77.8 |
| 10 | 86.2 |
Formula
Screening hours = Σ (time per applicant × applicants) for each method
Interview hours = Σ rounds (time per interview × interviewees) × interviewers per interview
Offer hours = (reference check + offer discussion) × candidates · Per person = phase hours ÷ people
Worked example
Inputs — CV screening time per applicant: 5 min; Applicants CV-screened: 200; Skills / assessment screening time per applicant: 15 min; Applicants skills-screened: 40; Phone screening time per applicant: 20 min; Applicants phone-screened: 25; Other screening time per applicant: 0 min; Applicants screened by other methods: 0; Recruiters sharing the screening: 2; Interview rounds: Two; Round 1 – length of one interview: 60 min; Round 1 – interviewees: 10; Round 2 – length of one interview: 90 min; Round 2 – interviewees: 4; Interviewers in each interview (panel size): 2; Interviewers sharing the interviews: 3; Reference checking time per candidate: 30 min; Offer discussion time per candidate: 45 min; Candidates reaching the offer stage: 2; Recruiters handling offers: 2; Average hourly cost of staff time (optional): 45.
Results — Total screening time = 35 h; Screening hours per recruiter = 17.5 h; Interview time on the calendar = 16 h; Total interviewer time = 32 h; Hours per interviewer = 10.7 h; Average interview time per candidate = 96 min; Total offer-stage time = 2.5 h; Offer-stage hours per recruiter = 1.25 h; Total hiring effort (all staff) = 69.5 h; Total per person if the same team does every stage = 29.4 h; Team time per candidate reaching the offer stage = 34.8 h; Cost of staff time = 3,128.
Key terms
- Screening
- Filtering applicants before interviews – CV review, assessments, phone calls.
- Panel interview
- An interview conducted by several interviewers at once.
- Time-to-hire
- Calendar days between a candidate entering the process and accepting the offer.
- Cost per hire
- Total recruiting cost (staff time, ads, agencies, tools) divided by the number of hires.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to screen a CV?
Studies of recruiters' eye movements suggest an initial scan of only 6–8 seconds, but a proper review against the job criteria takes 2–5 minutes – the calculator's default is 5 minutes.
How many hours does hiring one person take?
With the defaults – 200 CVs, 40 skills tests, 25 phone screens, two interview rounds and two final candidates – the team spends 69.5 hours, of which 32 are interviewer time.
Why multiply interviews by the panel size?
Every interviewer in the room spends the full interview time, so a 60-minute interview with two interviewers costs two person-hours.
What is a good time-to-hire?
Many organisations report 30–45 days from opening to accepted offer; time-to-hire depends far more on scheduling than on the hours of work themselves.
How can I reduce screening time?
Use clear knockout questions, short structured skills tests and scorecards; even saving 2 minutes per CV saves 6.7 hours for 200 applicants.
Should I include preparation and feedback time?
Yes – add 10–15 minutes per interview for preparation and write-up to the interview length for a realistic total.
How is the cost calculated?
Total team hours × the hourly cost you enter; 69.5 hours at $45 per hour is $3,128 of staff time, excluding advertising and agency fees.