Filling one position at a small company should take 4 to 6 weeks, provided the stages are fixed before the job ad goes out. There are eight: confirm the need, write the job description, post the vacancy, screen applications, run structured interviews, check references, make the offer, then sign the documents. What drags a hire out is rarely a lack of applicants. It is the decision nobody makes between one stage and the next.
The timings below are our suggestion for one position with one decision-maker. Managerial roles, or roles with few applicants, take longer.
| Stage | Output | Suggested time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Confirm the need | Decision to hire, PKWT or PKWTT status, salary budget | 2–3 days |
| 2. Job description | One page approved by the direct supervisor | 1–2 days |
| 3. Post the vacancy | Ad live on 2–3 channels with a closing date | Open 10–14 days |
| 4. Screen applications | Shortlist of 5–8 candidates who meet every must-have | 2–3 days after closing |
| 5. Structured interviews | A score per candidate from the same questions | 1 week |
| 6. Reference checks | Two references for the chosen candidate | 2–3 days |
| 7. Offer | Offer letter answered within its deadline | 3–5 working days |
| 8. Documents and signing | Employment agreement signed, employee file complete | Before day one |
1. Confirm the need
Before anything is written, answer four questions: which work is piling up and since when, whether the work is permanent or tied to one project, what salary fits the company's wage structure, and who decides. Permanent work takes a PKWTT (perjanjian kerja waktu tidak tertentu, an open-ended contract). A PKWT (fixed-term contract) is only for work that ends within a set period, lasts at most 5 years including extensions (PP 35/2021 Article 8), and cannot include a probation period (Article 12).
The last question is the one that stalls most hires. In small companies, interviews wait for an owner's calendar slot that never comes.
2. Write the job description
One page: main duties, must-haves, working conditions and the salary range. How to write it, with worked examples for admin, sales and accounting roles, is in cara membuat deskripsi pekerjaan (in Indonesian).
3. Post the vacancy on the right channels
| Channel | Good for | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Job boards | Common roles with many applicants | State the closing date and the documents required |
| LinkedIn and the company's social media | Roles needing specific experience | Reach is limited to the company's followers |
| Employee referrals | Almost every role | Referred candidates go through the same stages |
| Karirhub on the Ministry of Manpower's SIAPkerja portal | Every role, free of charge | Also satisfies the vacancy-reporting duty |
| Campuses and vocational training centres | Entry-level roles | Follows the academic calendar |
| Private placement agencies | Specialised or urgent roles | The company pays; agencies may not charge applicants (Permenaker 18/2024 Article 11) |
Vacancies must be reported. Presidential Regulation (Perpres) 57/2023 Article 4 requires employers to report job vacancies through the national manpower information system, free of charge, and Article 6 requires a second report once the vacancy is filled. Employers who do not report receive a written warning (Article 17). The mechanics are in Ministry of Manpower Regulation (Permenaker) 18/2024 Article 29: open an employer account on SIAPkerja, upload the vacancy details, and an officer verifies them within 1 working day. A vacancy uploaded that way appears on Karirhub, so one step serves two purposes.
Two more things. The ad must not carry discriminatory requirements: Law 13/2003 Article 5 guarantees every worker equal opportunity to obtain work, and Permenaker 18/2024 Article 4 bars selection based on ethnicity, race, sex, skin colour, religion, physical or mental condition, and political views. Then say when applicants will hear back, and keep to it. Applicants who never get a reply still form an opinion of the company, and share it.
4. Screen applications against written criteria
Sort applicants into three groups: meet every must-have, meet some, meet none. Only the first group is interviewed; the second is the reserve. So that two people screen and reach the same result, use simple weights: must-haves 50%, experience in similar work 30%, location and salary expectation 20%, each scored 0 to 2.
Applications are personal data. Law 27/2022 on Personal Data Protection requires a lawful basis for processing, such as the applicant's explicit consent or steps towards an employment agreement (Article 20), telling applicants the purpose and retention period (Article 21), and deleting data that is no longer needed (Article 43). Our suggested practice: say in the ad that applications are used to fill that role and kept for at most 6 months, then delete unsuccessful applicants' files on time.
5. Structured interviews
A structured interview means every candidate gets the same questions, scored on the same scale, by the same interviewers. The meta-analysis by Sackett et al. (2022) ranks structured interviews as the selection method with the highest validity for predicting job performance, 0.42, against 0.19 for unstructured interviews. Job knowledge tests come next at 0.40. The method is simple: turn each main duty in the job description into one question about real past experience.
| Main duty | Question | What to listen for |
|---|---|---|
| Prepare invoices and chase overdue ones | Tell me about the last invoice that was hard to collect. What did you do, and how did it end? | Concrete steps, not theory |
| Reconcile the bank account weekly | Tell me about the largest reconciliation difference you ever found. How did you trace it? | Attention to detail and method |
Score each answer from 1 to 5 straight after the interview, before talking to the other interviewer. For admin and accounting roles, add a 30-minute work sample that mirrors the real job: tidying sales data in Excel, or matching three transactions against a bank statement. Questions about marriage plans, religion, or health unrelated to the job are not asked.
6. Check references
Check references only for the candidate about to receive an offer, with their written consent, because contacting a former manager means processing their personal data. The ILO's fair recruitment guidelines (2016) likewise say applicant data should not be passed to third parties without the applicant's written approval. Ask for a police clearance (SKCK) only when the job genuinely requires it, since criminal records count as specific personal data under Law 27/2022 Article 4. Two references are enough: the last direct supervisor and one colleague. Five questions in a 15-minute call:
- What were the employment dates and the job title?
- Which tasks did they do most often?
- What needed coaching in the first month?
- Why did they leave?
- If a vacancy came up, would you hire them again?
An answer that does not match the candidate's account is not an automatic rejection. Ask the candidate about it before deciding.
7. The offer letter
An offer letter is not the employment agreement, but every figure in it must match the agreement signed later.
| Offer letter contents | Note |
|---|---|
| Job title and direct supervisor | Same as the job description |
| PKWTT or PKWT status and its term | Probation applies only to a PKWTT, lasts at most 3 months, and pay may not fall below the minimum wage. Details in masa percobaan karyawan (in Indonesian) |
| Base salary, allowances, BPJS | Monthly figures, not "as discussed" |
| Working hours and location | Including shifts or travel |
| Start date | Allow time for notice at the current employer |
| Reply deadline | 3–5 working days |
| Documents to bring | KTP, NPWP, BPJS numbers, bank account, diploma |
Tell reserve candidates after the offer is accepted, not before. Rejected candidates get a short message; detailed reasons are not required.
8. Documents and signing
A written employment agreement contains nine items under Article 54 of Law 13/2003: the company's name and address, the employee's identity, the position or type of work, the place of work, the wage and how it is paid, the terms setting out rights and duties, the start date and term, the place and date of signing, and both parties' signatures. It is made in two copies, one for the employee. A PKWT must be in writing in Indonesian (Article 57) and registered online with the Ministry of Manpower within 3 working days of signing, or in writing at the district manpower office within 7 working days where online registration is not yet available (PP 35/2021 Article 14). A PKWTT may be oral, but the company must then issue an appointment letter stating the employee's name and address, start date, type of work and wage (Article 63). Our advice: put everything in writing. Once the vacancy is filled, report that on SIAPkerja too (Perpres 57/2023 Article 6).
After signing, the work moves to BPJS registration, payroll data and day one. The deadlines are in checklist onboarding karyawan baru (in Indonesian).
Where Direkrut helps
With spreadsheets and email, these eight stages are enough for one or two hires a year. The trouble starts when three people are screening 80 applications for two roles at once: applications get lost in inboxes, each file shows a different status for the same candidate, and nobody knows who has not been answered yet.
| Stage | What Direkrut records |
|---|---|
| 3. Vacancy | Each job opening and the applications it receives |
| 4 and 5. Selection | Each candidate's selection stage and interview schedule |
| 5. Tests | The tests given and their results |
| 7. Offer | The job offer sent to the chosen candidate |
What no software replaces: a clear job description, the same interview questions for every candidate, and decisions that are not left hanging.
What to track and report
- Applicants per channel, to know which channel is worth paying for again.
- Candidates passing each stage. If 60 applicants yield 2 worth interviewing, the problem is the ad or the requirements.
- Time per stage, from the ad going live to the signature.
- Offers declined, with reasons; usually salary or start date.
- Which candidates have been told the outcome, and which applicant files have passed their retention period and been deleted.
The monthly report to the owner fits in one table: open positions, how long each has been open, candidates at each stage, and the date of the next decision.
General information as of 14 October 2026, not legal or tax advice. Rules change, so check official sources or talk to us about your situation.
