Application Conversion Rate

The application conversion rate is a key performance indicator (KPI) that organizations use to evaluate their recruitment processes and their capability to turn job seekers into hires. It represents the percentage of candidates that are progressed through the recruitment funnel and hired for a position after sending in an application. The conversion rate of job applicants gives insights into how effective recruitment strategies, candidate sourcing channels and selection methods are, indicating the organization's ability to attract, engage and retain high quality talent.

The application conversion rate is calculated by dividing the number of hires by the total number of applications received and multiplying the result by 100 in order to express it as a percentage. The formula is:

Example

Now imagine that a company gets 500 applications through their career portal and the job boards they advertised in. The organization conducts interviews and assessment tests for 50 candidates who are qualified, fit the culture and values of the organization.

In this case, the applicant conversion rate is 10% which means that 10% of the applicants were successfully hired after having got through the recruitment process.