What is Time to Fill?

Regardless of the sector, size, or nature of the position, time to fill is one of the most important recruiting criteria for every firm. What does the phrase "time to fill" mean exactly? Can you compute the difference between this and the time to hire? What strategies do you do at your company to shorten the hiring process?

Time to Fill

How does Time to Fill work

For each position filled within the measurement period, it is measured by counting the number of calendar days between the time the job request was made (RR) and the time the candidate accepted the offer (AD).

The method entails adding up the entire number of calendar days during which all open positions were filled, dividing the total by the number of positions, and obtaining the average.

The Benefit of Measuring the Time to Fill

Understand that your Time to Fill has various benefits:

  1. It is an easy way to estimate how long it would take to fill a post.

  2. It serves as a running score for your recruiting efforts or a key performance indicator (KPI).

  3. It is a great forecasting variable and an important measurement for talent initiatives.

How can time to fill be reduced?

Think about the following advice to reduce your time to fill:

  1. The hiring manager and the recruiter should work to eliminate common bottlenecks in the hiring process. Make sure there are specific goals, frequent check-ins, and clear deliverables.

  2. Automate every tedious step in your hiring process by using recruitment technologies. Other procedures, like checking references and signing onboarding paperwork, can also be digitalized.

  3. Find former applicants for vacant positions again. There would be no need to screen candidates again; it would just be a continuation of their hiring process, saving you time and money.

Abhishek Kathpal

Abhi is the co-founder of Longlist.io, enabling 50+ recruitment businesses build better client and candidate relationships.