What is time to fill?

Time to fill is the amount of time between the initiation of the hiring process and an accepted job offer. The specific start date for the calculation can vary depending on your hiring process. It’s often the day that you post the job online.

However, some organizations use the date the hiring manager submits a job requisition or the day the job requisition is approved as the start date. Regardless of which day you choose, make sure you’re consistent across all positions. This improves the integrity of your data.

Time to fill encompasses all of your recruiting and hiring activities, including everything from sourcing and screening candidates to interviewing and extending a job offer. It’s represented as the number of days that pass during this process.

Calculating time to fill

To calculate time to fill, identify the start and end dates. Your start date is when you officially started recruiting for the job. The end date is when the selected candidate accepts the job offer. Simply calculate how many days passed between the start and end date to calculate your time to fill.

For example, say you posted the job on September 1, and you have a job offer accepted on November 1. The time to fill would be 62 days. If you post the job on March 1 and the candidate accepts the offer on March 31, your time to fill is 31 days.

What is time to hire?

Time to hire describes the period between a candidate applying and accepting a job offer. It only applies to the final candidate who takes the position. Measured in days, this metric is typically shorter than time to fill because it doesn’t start until the new hire applies. The two metrics could be the same if the chosen candidate applies on the first day the job goes live.

Calculating time to hire

Calculating time to hire is similar to calculating time to fill. However, you use the starting date of when the final candidate first entered the recruitment funnel. The end date is the same: the date your selected candidate accepts your job offer.

For example, say you post a job on January 1, your new hire applies on January 10 and they accept your offer on January 31. Your time to fill is 31 days, while your time to hire is 22 days.

Time to fill vs. time to hire

Time to hire and time to fill sound similar, but they’re slightly different. The ending date is the same for both: the day that your selected candidate accepts the job offer. When comparing time to fill vs. time to hire, the difference is the starting date.

Time to fill starts with the beginning of your hiring process. The time to hire metric doesn’t start until your new hire enters the recruitment pipeline. In other words, that timer starts ticking when your new employee starts the application process.

The focus of the metrics also varies. Time to fill measures the overall recruiting process and gives insight into its efficiency. Meanwhile, time to hire is a candidate-centric metric. It focuses on just one candidate’s experience, measuring the time they spent in the recruitment funnel.

Why time to hire and time to fill metrics matter

Both metrics offer valuable insight into your hiring processes. Having concrete data can help you improve hiring and recruiting for your organization. Some specific reasons to calculate time to hire and time to fill include:

• Identifying delays. If you realize you consistently spend too much time on the hiring process, you can start looking for the reasons for the delays. Spotting long hiring times is the first step toward improving them.

• Improving the candidate experience. The length of the recruitment process affects the candidate experience. A shorter hiring process gives candidates the impression that you value their time.

• Securing talent. Shorter time to hire and time to fill periods increase your chances of hiring your top candidates. If you have a long hiring process, your top picks may be more likely to receive job offers from other organizations.

• Organizational planning. When you have an idea of your average hiring time, you can better plan when employees leave. You have a better idea of when you’ll be ready to onboard a new employee. This allows you to assign that employee’s duties to other team members in the interim.

• Reducing costs. From advertising costs to paying overtime when other team members cover the vacant role, hiring a new employee is expensive. Filling positions faster saves money on the hiring process.

• Improving hire quality. While a slow hiring process is often the concern, recruiting too quickly can also be a problem. If you notice a short time to hire or time to fill, make sure you’re taking all necessary steps during the hiring process. Verify that you’re thoroughly vetting the candidates and choosing new hires who meet your needs.

How to improve time to hire and time to fill

If you’re not satisfied with your current metrics, take steps to improve them. Continuing to calculate your recruitment metrics lets you monitor changes and determine if you’re improving. The following tips can help you improve both metrics:

• Utilize technology. Recruitment software automates all parts of the hiring process to shorten the length of each step. Examples include screening resumes to find applicants with matching qualifications, sending automated communications to applicants, managing interview scheduling and handling candidate assessments.

• Review each step. Are there unnecessary steps you can eliminate in your hiring process? Perhaps you can shorten the interview process from three interviews to two. Analyze each piece of the puzzle to look for ways to streamline them.

• Improve candidate sourcing. Looking at the success of candidates from each candidate sourcing channel helps you target applicants. Put more attention into those methods to find successful new hires effectively.

• Try proactive recruiting. Instead of waiting until you have an opening to look for candidates, take a proactive recruiting approach. When you have a talent pool waiting, you can speed up your hiring activities because you already have their attention.

• Train your team. Training everyone involved with application screening and interviewing on effective techniques helps improve the results. It slows down the process when team members aren’t sure how to handle specific recruitment tasks.

• Develop specific procedures. By creating step-by-step procedures, you create consistency and offer an easy-to-follow guide for hiring managers. Include templates and examples for job descriptions, recruitment emails and other materials to save time.

FAQs about time to hire and time to fill

Which metric is more important?

Both metrics offer valuable information that can help you improve your recruitment efforts. Time to fill helps you review your entire process, from posting to job offer. It can improve your HR processes. With time to hire, you can focus specifically on what your candidates experience and look for bottlenecks in your screening processes.

How do you calculate your average time to fill and time to hire?

Some job openings are easier to fill than others. Looking at your average time to hire and time to fill for all vacancies can give you a better idea of your activities as a whole. Add all of the time to fill calculations you have for vacancies during a certain period. Divide by the number of vacancies you had. Say the total was 365 days, and you hired for 10 positions. That makes your average time to fill 36.5 days. The same formula works for time to hire.

What are some other useful HR metrics?

Using a variety of recruitment metrics gives you a well-rounded look at how effectively you’re handling your vacancies. Cost per hire keeps an eye on your recruitment costs to ensure it’s cost-effective. Candidates per hire evaluates the number of applicants you interview before you choose someone. Some organizations calculate the sourcing channel effectiveness to gauge which candidate source yields the best results. Long-term metrics look at statistics related to new hire turnover rate and quality of hires. Choose the metrics that relate most to the areas you want to improve.