Time to Hire vs Time to Fill: Formula, Calculator & Benchmarks [2026]
Updated June 20268 min readFree Calculator Included
Time to hire measures how long a candidate spends in your pipeline. Time to fill measures how long a role stays open. Both are critical recruiting metrics — and confusing them leads to fixing the wrong thing. This guide covers both formulas, benchmarks, and a free calculator.
Time to Hire & Time to Fill Calculator
Calculate for a single hire using dates, or use the stage-by-stage breakdown.
Date headcount was approved / role posted
Application date or date you sourced them
Date candidate formally accepted
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Time to Hire (days)
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Time to Fill (days)
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Setup Time (days)
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Total Days (Time to Fill)
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Candidate-Facing Days (TTH)
Enter days-to-hire for each recent hire (one per line or comma-separated):
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Average Time to Hire
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Median
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Fastest
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Slowest
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Time to Hire vs. Time to Fill: What's the Difference?
These two metrics measure different things — and confusing them means you'll diagnose the wrong bottleneck.
Time to Hire
Days from when a candidate enters your pipeline (applies or is sourced) to when they accept the offer. Measures candidate experience and pipeline efficiency.
Time to Fill
Days from when a role is officially opened (approved headcount) to when it is filled (offer accepted). Measures total recruiting capacity and planning efficiency.
Example: A role opens on January 1. Your recruiter takes 2 weeks to post the job and start sourcing. The eventual hire applies on January 15 and accepts on February 14. Time to hire = 30 days (Jan 15 → Feb 14). Time to fill = 44 days (Jan 1 → Feb 14).
The 14-day gap between TTH and TTF represents recruiting setup time — a metric that only appears in time to fill. If you only track time to hire, you're missing the overhead cost of opening a role.
Formulas for Time to Hire and Time to Fill
Time to Hire Formula
Time to Hire = Date Offer Accepted − Date Candidate Entered Pipeline
Measures candidate-facing pipeline duration — your interview process speed
Time to Fill Formula
Time to Fill = Date Offer Accepted − Date Role Was Opened
Measures total recruiting timeline — from approved headcount to accepted offer
How to Calculate Average Time to Hire
To calculate your team's average across multiple hires in a period: sum all individual time-to-hire values and divide by the number of hires. Most ATS platforms calculate this automatically — but they often use inconsistent start-date definitions, so verify what date field your system uses as the start point.
Time to Hire Benchmarks by Role (2026)
Benchmark against roles similar to yours — industry alone isn't enough to contextualize your speed.
Role Type
Avg Time to Hire
Avg Time to Fill
Assessment
Software Engineer (Mid)
25–35 days
35–50 days
Under 30d = fast
Software Engineer (Senior)
35–50 days
45–60 days
Under 40d = good
Product Manager
30–45 days
40–55 days
Under 35d = good
Data Scientist / ML
35–55 days
45–65 days
Under 45d = good
Sales / Account Executive
15–25 days
20–35 days
Under 20d = fast
Executive / VP+
60–120 days
90–180 days
Normal for level
High-Volume / Operations
7–14 days
14–21 days
Under 10d = fast
All Roles (LinkedIn Global)
~36 days
~44 days
2024 global average
Where Time Gets Lost: Pipeline Stage Breakdown
Most delays accumulate at predictable chokepoints. LinkedIn's data on where time is lost across a typical engineering pipeline:
Stage
Typical Duration
Common Delay Cause
Job posting live + sourcing
3–7 days
Slow approval chains, unclear JD
Application review
2–5 days
No SLA, recruiter overload
Recruiter phone screen
3–7 days
Scheduling lag, no priority queue
Technical assessment
3–7 days
Async take-home adds 5+ days
Hiring manager interview
4–8 days
HM calendar availability
Panel / final round
5–10 days
Scheduling 4–6 people simultaneously
Debrief + decision
1–3 days
Scorecards not submitted, no SLA
Offer + negotiation
2–5 days
Comp approval bottlenecks
The biggest single fix: Panel scheduling is where 5–10 days disappear on every senior hire. Using async technical assessments and a dedicated interview coordinator reduces panel scheduling lag by 40–60%.
How to Reduce Time to Hire
Set stage-level SLAs and enforce them. "Recruiter must screen within 48 hours of application. HM must schedule within 72 hours of recruiter screen passing." Without explicit SLAs per stage, each step can drift independently.
Use async technical interviews. Live coding interviews require scheduling 2–4 people simultaneously. Async platforms let candidates complete technical assessments on their own time — reducing this stage from 7 days to 2.
Pre-book interview panels weekly. Block recurring slots on engineering calendars every week for interviews. Fill them as candidates pass screens rather than scheduling from scratch every time.
Eliminate the take-home assignment. Take-home projects add 5–7 days of elapsed time and have a 40–60% completion rate. Structured live assessments on purpose-built platforms are faster and have higher completion rates.
Move debrief to same day as final interview. Waiting 3–5 days to debrief is the most preventable delay. A 30-minute sync immediately after the final round cuts decision latency dramatically.
Get offer approval pre-authorized. Comp band approvals that require VP sign-off at offer stage are a common 3–5 day delay. Pre-authorizing offer ranges at job approval removes this bottleneck.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is time to hire?
Time to hire is the number of days between when a candidate enters your recruiting pipeline (applies or is sourced) and when they accept the offer. It measures how long candidates experience your process — a direct signal of candidate experience quality and pipeline efficiency.
What is the difference between time to hire and time to fill?
Time to hire starts when the candidate enters the pipeline. Time to fill starts when the role is officially opened (headcount approved). The difference between the two represents your pre-pipeline setup time — how long it takes to post the job, align on requirements, and begin sourcing.
What is a good time to hire?
For most roles, under 30 days time to hire is considered good. LinkedIn reports a global average of ~36 days. High-volume roles should target under 14 days; senior technical roles under 45 days. What matters most is benchmarking consistently against your own historical data and similar role types.
How do you calculate time to hire?
Time to Hire = Date offer was accepted − Date candidate entered the pipeline. For averages: sum all individual TTH values and divide by number of hires in the period.
What is the average time to fill a position?
LinkedIn's 2024 global data puts the average time to fill at approximately 44 days across all roles. Tech and specialized roles average 45–65 days. High-volume and entry-level roles average 14–21 days. Industry and seniority are the biggest variables.