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July 15, 2025
If you're working in healthcare recruitment, you already know the pressure. There aren’t enough skilled professionals to go around, and when the right person comes along, you often have just days to act. Time-to-hire, the number of days between someone applying and receiving an offer, is a key measure of how well your recruitment process is working.
The risk with slow hiring is simple: the best candidates won’t wait. In some parts of the sector, top candidates are snapped up within ten days. If your process takes weeks, you’re often too late. It’s not just about speed for its own sake, it’s about staying competitive.
Beyond the obvious risk of losing talent, drawn-out hiring affects teams already under strain. When roles stay open for too long, the burden falls on existing staff. In hospitals and aged care facilities, that can quickly lead to burnout, mistakes, or service delays. So improving time-to-hire isn’t just good practice, it’s a clinical necessity.
➡️ Curious how faster hiring could work in your setting? See it in action with a quick walkthrough.
There’s no single reason why hiring takes so long in healthcare, but some challenges keep coming up. The first is supply. There simply aren’t enough qualified people in the workforce, and even fewer who are actively job hunting. Those who are looking often have several offers on the table.
Burnout and turnover are also a big part of the picture. High stress levels and emotional fatigue push many healthcare workers to switch roles or leave the field altogether. As a result, organizations are constantly trying to replace staff, which creates pressure to hire fast, sometimes without the right systems in place.
Location is another factor. Rural or regional providers often struggle to attract applicants, while smaller clinics or services may not be able to offer the salaries or perks of larger hospitals. All of this contributes to long hiring times and higher drop-out rates.
🎯 Want help removing roadblocks in your recruitment process? Let’s talk through it.
While you can’t solve the workforce shortage overnight, you can improve how your organization responds. One way to do that is by using technology more effectively. Applicant tracking systems can cut admin time by helping with job ads, screening, interview scheduling and follow-ups. Automation tools can also speed up things like reference checks or pre-employment paperwork.
Data plays a key role here. If you don’t know how long each stage of your hiring process takes, or where candidates tend to drop out, it’s hard to make meaningful improvements. Track how many days it takes to move from application to interview, and from interview to offer. Look at which sourcing channels bring in the best candidates. These small details can reveal where you’re losing time and how to fix it.
🛠 Want to see how automation could work for your team? Schedule a personalized demo.
Speed alone isn’t enough if candidates feel ignored or frustrated along the way. This is where candidate engagement comes in. it means making people feel seen, informed and respected during the process.
Small changes like sending prompt updates, offering clear timelines, and being transparent about next steps can make a big difference. People want to know where they stand. If they apply and hear nothing for weeks, they’re likely to move on.
Your employer brand also matters. When candidates believe in your mission and feel aligned with your values, they’re more likely to stay in the process and more likely to accept an offer. You don’t need to slick marketing campaigns. Just be honest about what makes your workplace different, whether that’s flexible rosters, a supportive team or access to training.
💬 Want to improve candidate engagement from day one? We can show you how.
Many healthcare providers approach recruitment as something reactive. A job opens up, and only then does the search begin. This creates delays every time, especially for high-turnover or hard-to-fill roles.
A better approach is to build a pipeline. This means identifying the roles you frequently need to fill and sourcing candidates for them in advance. Keep in touch with previous applicants, student placements, or professionals you’ve met at conferences. Even if they’re not ready to move now, a warm conversation can turn into a quick hire later.
You can also use technology to keep track of your pipeline. Tagging candidates by skills, interests or location makes it easier to reach out when roles come up. But more important than the software is the relationship. Regular contact, even just a short check-in, helps people feel connected.
📘 Interested in building your own candidate pipeline? See how other teams are doing it.
Healthcare isn’t like most industries. When a nurse or doctor leaves, it impacts more than just the schedule, it affects patients, families, and colleagues. that’s why improving recruitment speed and candidate experience should be a priority.
The goal isn’t just to fill jobs faster. It’s to do it in a way that respects people’s time, supports overstretched teams, and builds long-term trust with future staff. by combining smarter systems with a human approach, healthcare providers can stay ahead in a tough market and offer better care as a result.
🚀 Ready to take the first step? Book a guided session now.
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