Application completion rate

Application completion rate is about one moment: someone decided they want this job, they clicked apply, and now they have to get through your form. Did they make it to the end, or did they give up halfway?

When this number is low, the problem is almost never the candidate. It's the flow. Making an account, uploading a CV that the phone can't find, retyping everything that's already in the CV, a cover letter, twenty questions you don't need before the first conversation. Every extra step is a moment to quit, and on a phone that moment comes fast.

The nice thing is that this is one of the easiest leaks to fix, because it's completely in your own hands. Apply to your own job on your phone, write down every step, and ask for each one whether you really need it now. Not all friction is bad, one good question that shows real interest is fine, but everything else can usually go or move to later. I wrote out the full process in how to get your application under 5 minutes.

How to calculate it

Divide the number of finished applications by the number of people who started the application, then multiply by 100.

Example

A company's ATS shows that many people click "apply" but far fewer submit. They test it on a phone and find that applicants have to create an account and then fill in their work history by hand, even after uploading a CV. They remove the account step and make the work history optional. The completion rate goes up straight away.