In recruitment, time-to-hire has always been the headline stat. It’s what boards track, what dashboards display, and what hiring managers are trained to expect. But here’s the catch: time-to-hire often tells you more about internal bottlenecks than recruitment performance.
Think about it. A hire can be delayed by decision fatigue, conflicting schedules, stalled approvals, or simply too many rounds of interviews. These are variables even the most proactive agency can’t always influence. So if you’re measuring a recruitment partner based solely on how long it takes from opening to offer, you’re likely missing the real story.
That’s where time-to-shortlist comes in. It’s faster. It’s clearer. And it’s squarely in the hands of your recruitment partner.
Why Clients Are Reframing the Metric
Time-to-shortlist isn’t just a recruitment buzzword. It’s a shift in how HR leaders are thinking about what truly drives hiring momentum.
This metric tracks the number of days (or hours) between a recruiter receiving the role intake and delivering a curated list of qualified, available, and interested candidates to the client. Unlike time-to-hire, it reflects speed of sourcing, clarity of intake, strength of network, and the recruiter’s ability to act fast without compromising fit.
For Talent Acquisition teams, especially those with limited bandwidth, this change is freeing. You’re no longer left waiting for weeks without insight. Instead, you know how quickly your partner can generate traction and whether they’re surfacing the right talent early enough for you to stay competitive.
At SRA, we’re seeing more clients lean into this model. Whether they’re scaling a tech team in Vancouver or building a contractor bench in Toronto, they want fast access to qualified candidates. Not generic CVs. Not post-and-pray results. Actual matches, verified and delivered within days.
What Time-to-Shortlist Looks Like at SRA
Whether you’re hiring for one role or one hundred, our focus is simple: accelerate the shortlist without cutting corners.
As one of the best recruitment companies in Toronto and across Canada, we’re deeply committed to real delivery metrics not just promises. Here’s what time-to-shortlist looks like in our world:
- Rapid intake-to-delivery windows (typically 24–72 hours for high-volume and recurring roles)
- Pre-built pipelines of vetted, available talent across IT, healthcare, finance, and compliance
- Smart tech layered with human insight, our recruiters don’t rely on automation alone
- Real-time visibility into which roles are progressing and which need attention
For clients searching for an IT recruitment firm in Canada that can keep up with business growth, time-to-shortlist isn’t just a number, it’s an advantage.
Why This Matters Now
In 2025, Canada’s skilled labor shortage hasn’t eased. The tech sector remains fiercely competitive, healthcare continues to face hiring pressure, and even traditional industries are battling for niche expertise.
In this climate, the companies that move quickly are the ones that win. And that movement starts with the shortlist.
Faster shortlists lead to faster interviews. Faster interviews lead to higher candidate engagement. And engaged candidates lead to stronger hires.
That’s why time-to-shortlist is emerging as the metric that actually moves the needle.
Redefining Speed Without Sacrificing Fit
Speed is valuable, but speed without fit is just noise.
At SRA, we believe the only thing worse than hiring too slowly is hiring the wrong person too fast. That’s why our approach to time-to-shortlist isn’t about rushing. It’s about being deliberately fast, backed by systems that prioritize quality, context, and candidate readiness.
Here’s how we do it:
- Precision over volume: We don’t believe in flooding your inbox with every semi-relevant resume. Instead, we apply a laser-focused approach, sending only the most aligned, interested, and interview-ready candidates. Usually three to five profiles. All of them pre-vetted. All of them chosen with your specific business context in mind.
- Domain-specific expertise: Because we specialize in sectors like IT, healthcare, compliance, and finance, we understand what success looks like in those roles and what red flags to avoid. This helps us balance speed with strategic matching, especially in critical or niche positions.
- Relationship-first recruiting: Many of the candidates we share aren’t pulled from job boards. They’re part of our internal talent pool, professionals we’ve built relationships with who trust our process and are open to the right opportunities. That’s how we stay fast without sacrificing engagement or retention.
- AI where it counts, human judgment where it matters: We use automation to remove repetitive tasks and accelerate screening, but the final call always comes down to human recruiters who understand nuance, personality fit, and long-term potential.
This is what sets SRA apart from the rest. We’re not just one of the best recruitment companies in Canada because we’re fast. We’re trusted because we combine urgency with intelligence.