Imagine organizing a party and the DJ cancels at the last moment. Now the race against time begins to find a new one. It's similar in recruiting :
"Time to fill" is the time that elapses from the start of the job posting until a candidate accepts the job offer.
The Three Most Important Questions About “Time to Fill”
What Affects “Time to Fill”? Various factors can influence the time to fill, such as the complexity of the job, the efficiency of your recruiting team, or how attractive your company is to applicants.
How can you measure “Time to Fill”? Divide the total number of days a position is open by the number of positions filled.
What is a good time to fill? How good your time to fill is, of course, depends on a few factors, such as the job level you are looking for or your growth strategy. According to statistics on the duration of the vacancy period for 2022 in Germany, a rough benchmark is around 121 days (around 3 months).
Don't confuse the time to fill with the time to hire. Unlike the Time to Hire, the Time to Fill does not start when an application is received, but rather from the day a new job is approved internally.
| Time to Hire | Time to fill |
definition | Begins with the time of application and ends with the acceptance of the offer by the applicant. | Begins when the job posting is approved and ends when the applicant accepts the offer. |
Time | Shorter | Longer |
Purpose | Is a candidate-focused indicator of their experience and how quickly they move through the hiring process. Can be used to optimize the application process. | Provides an overview of the speed and quality of the entire recruiting process and the applicants' experiences. Can be used for business planning and to improve the recruiting process. |
Optimizing the “Time to Fill” – Here’s how it works
Understand the job requirements: Clear and accurate job descriptions help find the right candidate faster. Challenge your job postings and do A/B testing to understand which job postings perform better.
Use your network: In addition to the common channels such as LinkedIn, Stepstone and co. It can help to activate your own network to find suitable candidates more quickly.
Evaluate your recruiting process: Is the application process too long? Where do you lose the most candidates? The efficiency killers are often in the details. Optimizing the candidate funnel can significantly shorten the “time to fill”. Do you want to find out more about the recruiting funnel? Click here.
At beyobie you will find a detailed overview of the time to fill in the “Recruit” dashboard of your employee lifecycle and can track in real time how efficient your recruiting processes are at any time.
Let's summarize
Remember, “Time to Fill” is more than just a number. It is a reflection of your recruiting efficiency. A well-optimized “time to fill” means that you can get the right people on board more quickly and thus lead your company to success! 🚀