Hiring glossary
What is time to fill?
Time to fill is the number of calendar days from when a job requisition is opened to when a candidate accepts the offer for that position.
That is the definition SHRM uses, counting weekends and holidays. Some teams start the clock at requisition approval instead, so state your start point when comparing figures. Time to fill covers the whole effort of filling a seat: approval, sourcing, screening, interviews and the offer.
It is mainly a planning metric. Knowing the usual time to fill for each kind of role lets hiring managers ask for headcount early enough, and a role that runs well past its usual figure is a signal to revisit the pay band, the requirements or the sourcing channels.
Example
A requisition for a QA engineer opens on 1 February and the chosen candidate accepts on 18 March: time to fill is 45 days. That candidate applied on 25 February, so their time to hire is 21 days.
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