A typical funnel starts wide, with everyone who sees a job advert, and narrows at each stage: application, screening, interview, offer and acceptance. Teams track how many people enter and leave each stage. For example, if 400 people apply, 80 pass screening, 20 are interviewed and 4 receive offers, the steepest drop is between application and screening, which is where to look first.
Funnel data shows whether a hiring problem is about attraction, assessment or conversion, so effort goes to the right place. At volume, small leaks add up: a slow screening stage or a confusing application form can lose good applicants before anyone reads their CV. Reviewing the funnel per role and per source, and checking pass rates across groups, keeps the process both efficient and fair.