New report details changes in hiring process for Class of 2022 college graduates

‘On April 28, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) released a new report stating that Class of 2022 college grads entering the workforce can expect the overall hiring process – from interview to offer and offer to acceptance – to take approximately 40 days,

NACE’s 2021 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report revealed that, in 2021, employers made job offers an average of 24.5 days after the interview. Subsequently, students accepted offers an average of a little more than two weeks (15.7 days) after receiving an offer (See Figure 1.)

“These cycle times during the hiring process have remained steady in recent years and, despite the disruption caused by the pandemic and tight labor market, have not been impacted significantly by it,” explains Shawn VanDerziel, NACE executive director.

“It’s also important to point out that the survey respondents are generally larger organizations, so these data represent cycle times from employers that tend to recruit greater numbers of candidates.”

Figure 1: Cycle Times from Position Interview to Position Acceptance

Year	Average Days From Interview to Offer	Average Days From Offer to Acceptance
2021	24.5	15.7
2019	23.5	14.3
2018	24.5	13.8
2017	23.6	14.0
2015	19.9	14.3

Source: 2021 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report, National Association of Colleges and Employers

About NACE’s Recruiting Benchmarks Survey: Data from the 2021 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report were collected on June 7, 2021, until August 6, 2021. Responses reflect recruiting results for the Class of 2020. The survey was distributed to organizations holding NACE membership as well as nonmembers. In all, 186 NACE members responded, representing 22.3% of all eligible member respondents. An additional 27 responses were received from nonmember companies.

An executive summary of the 2021 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report is available through NACE.

(Cover Photo: MJ Morgan Group / Twitter)