No-show rate

Every no-show costs twice. A recruiter or manager blocks time that nobody uses. And the vacancy stays open, so the search starts again. In frontline hiring no-shows are common, as frontline worker describes.

How do you measure no-show rate?

1. Pick the appointment type. Measure interviews, intakes and first shifts separately. Each has its own reasons for no-shows.
2. Count the booked appointments in one period, for example a month.
3. Count the no-shows: candidates who did not come and did not cancel in advance.
4. Divide the no-shows by the booked appointments.

No-show rate = no-shows ÷ booked appointments

Count a late cancellation the same way as a no-show if the slot could not be used. Track the rate per source and per recruiter. A source with many no-shows often sends candidates who applied to many jobs at once.

Why do candidates not show up?

• They found another job. The longer the wait between application and appointment, the more likely this is.
• They forgot. An appointment booked a week ahead competes with shifts, family and other applications.
• The details were unclear. Wrong address, unclear time or no idea what to bring.
• They were never really interested. Some candidates apply to many jobs in one evening and book without much thought.
• Something came up at work. Many frontline candidates already work shifts that change at short notice.

What lowers the no-show rate?

1. Shorten the gap. Contact the candidate within minutes and book the interview in the same conversation. See time to first contact.
2. Offer slots soon. An interview tomorrow gets fewer no-shows than one next week.
3. Confirm clearly. Send the time, the address and the name of the person they will meet, in the channel the candidate uses.
4. Send a reminder. A short message the day before helps. Check whether your calendar tool sends one.
5. Make cancelling easy. A candidate who can reply "I can't come" frees the slot for someone else.

Is a no-show always the candidate's fault?

No. A high no-show rate often points to the process. If candidates wait days for a call and then get a slot a week later, many will have moved on. Some employers also ghost candidates, which teaches candidates to do the same. See candidate ghosting.

How does Ringtime help lower no-shows?

Ringtime works on the part of the process that comes before the appointment: the wait.

1. The assistant contacts every applicant within 5 minutes of applying, inside the calling hours you set.
2. It screens the candidate in the same conversation, by phone or WhatsApp.
3. A candidate who passes picks an interview time in that conversation. The agent books it straight into the recruiter's calendar.
4. The agent confirms the time in the conversation. The candidate can also get a calendar invite by email.

Ringtime does not send appointment reminders itself. Your calendar tool can send them; Microsoft Bookings does when its candidate mail is on. Interview scheduling explains the booking step.

To book interviews while the candidate is still interested, see how Ringtime screens candidates.