Application Completion Rate

What is the application completion rate?

Application Completion Rate refers to the percentage of people who begin filling out a job application and submit it successfully. This metric is a reflection of how easy or difficult it is to apply for a job, and also impacts candidate experience and the number of applicants. The higher rate of completion indicates that the form is simple to fill out. The low rate indicates difficulties with it like complicated registration, lengthy forms or unnecessary compulsory fields.

What is the average application completion rate?

The average completion rate is 40-60% in most companies. Short and simple applications are more effective than lengthy step-by-step applications. Mobile applications have lower completion rate compared to desktop ones.

Factors influencing the application completion rate

Some of the key factors are form length, complexity, mobile-friendliness, login, relevancy of the questions asked, and instructions. Long and complex forms will result in higher drop-offs.

Formula to calculate Application Completion Rate

Application Completion Rate = (Completed Applications ÷ Applications Started) × 100

Application completion rate calculation example

If there were 1,000 applications started and 550 submitted, then the application completion rate is 550 ÷ 1,000 × 100 = 55%.

How to track application completion rate?

Track the number of applications started against those submitted, broken down by job, location, device, and sourcing channel. Reviewing this data monthly helps identify where and why candidates drop off.

What Is a Good Application Completion Rate Benchmark?

A decent benchmark would be 60% to 70%. Below 40% means process issue. Over 70% is a great metric that means great candidate experience.

How can HR improve the application completion rate?

By minimising the length and complexity of forms, making it mobile-friendly, removing unnecessary logins, providing instructions and tracking drop-off points.