A discrete event simulation of recruitment. Vacancies arrive over time, CVs are screened as they arrive, interviews start once a few good candidates are found, checks run during the notice period, every applicant is tracked individually with their own hidden quality, and recruiters, HR, finance, hiring managers and interviewers are shared teams with limited capacity, so work queues up when they’re busy. Approvals can be refused, candidates give up if they’re left waiting, and every hour of effort is costed. All times are in working days.
Decision numbers start grey, turn green once that decision has been made, and the most recent decision shows in blue. Each station counts the work done at that stage so far, and the bottom line shows how many vacancies are there now. Cells flash when a decision is made or data moves, and count how often that has happened. Arc thickness shows how often each setback occurs across all replications.
Benchmarks are calendar days and general UK or international averages, so treat them as a sense check rather than targets. Model days are converted at 5 working days to 7 calendar days. Sources: NatWest Mentor summary of UK surveys and SmartRecruiters 2025; SmartRecruiters UK analysis; funnel benchmarks from CareerPlug 2025 and Ashby 2025.
Solid line marks the median vacancy, dashed line the 90th percentile.