Sixty Applicants. How Many Are Still Driving In March?

No — each one is the share that survives that particular step. If 60 applicants come in and you reach 55%, that's 33 people; if 45% of those qualify, that's 15, not 27. Stage rates compound, which is exactly why a funnel that looks healthy at every individual step can still deliver almost nobody at the end.

Because that's the one worth your attention. Losing 90% at a stage that only sees four people costs you three drivers; losing 30% at a stage that sees sixty costs you eighteen. The percentage looks alarming in the first case and the headcount tells you the truth in the second.

It takes your worst rate and moves it half the distance to 100% — a 40% rate becomes 70% — then re-runs the whole funnel with everything else unchanged. It is a what-if, not a forecast: it shows what that leak is worth in hires, and says nothing about whether you can actually close it. Some leaks are structural.

Estimate, then go and check the two you're least sure about. Most carriers are closest on applicants and hires — those are countable — and furthest off on how many they actually reached, which is usually worse than remembered. If a rough pass shows one stage dominating the losses, that's already the answer to what to measure properly first.

Because this figure is what buys applicants — job boards, paid ads, sponsored posts — so cost per applicant stays comparable across channels. Recruiter time is real money, but it's a cost of WORKING the funnel rather than filling it, and mixing the two makes both numbers harder to act on.