Blog · 18 September 2026 · 7 min read
Hiring pipeline stages with SLAs: a template for Indian companies
A twelve-stage pipeline that fits engineering, sales and operations roles, with the SLA in days for each stage and what to do when it breaks.
A pipeline is only useful if everyone knows what each stage means and how long a candidate should sit in it. This is the default HireZeta pipeline, with the reasoning.
The stages
- Screening, SLA 5 days. A recruiter reads the profile against the must-haves. Move or reject within a week; anything older is noise.
- Assignment, SLA 5 days. If the role uses a take-home, send it here and set a return date. Skip this stage for roles that do not.
- Round 1, SLA 7 days. First conversation, usually the recruiter or a peer. Book the interview from the card; the invite goes out on its own.
- Round 2, SLA 7 days. Hiring manager or panel. Scorecards required before moving.
- Technical round, SLA 7 days. Engineering-style deep dive; rename for other functions (case study, portfolio review).
- HR round, SLA 5 days. Compensation, notice, expectations, culture. Record expected CTC and LWD here.
- Final select, SLA 5 days. Decision meeting; the role's owner moves or rejects.
- Salary negotiation, SLA 5 days. Keep it short; long negotiations signal offer shopping.
- Documentation, SLA 7 days. Collect documents for the offer and background checks.
- Offer shared, SLA 7 days. Offer letter sent; validity stated in the letter.
- Offer accepted, SLA 30 days. Signed, LWD known, joining date set. Check in every two weeks.
- Joined. Terminal stage. The candidate becomes an employee.
When an SLA breaks
The card turns red with the days overdue and the role shows as stalled on Today. The rule is simple: move, reject or write a note explaining why it is waiting. Silence is the only unacceptable state.
Adapting per department
Sales rarely needs an assignment stage; engineering rarely needs two HR rounds. Keep the stage groups (screening, interview, selection, offer, hired) so reports compare across departments, and vary the stage names inside them. On HireZeta, templates per department are one setting on Growth and above.
Two numbers to watch
Time in stage per stage tells you where the process is slow. Offer-to-joining ratio tells you whether the last three stages are working. If it is under 70 percent, shorten offer validity and confirm LWD before celebrating an acceptance.