Longer than most people expect. In 2025 employers took an average of 63.5 days to fill an open position, according to recruiting-software company Employ's hiring benchmarks: 51.7 days at large companies and 83.5 days at small and medium ones (HR Dive). A posting that has been up for six weeks is often still a real, active search.
Why age alone proves little
- Senior and specialised roles take longer to fill.
- Some teams hire for the same role all year (support, sales, retail) and keep one posting up.
- Job boards often show a fresh "reposted" date, which hides how long the role has really been open, in both directions.
When an old posting is a red flag
- It's been up for well over two or three months at a company that isn't hiring for that role continuously.
- It has gone from the employer's own careers page but is still on job boards. Boards copy postings automatically, and the copies can stay up after the employer fills the role (Congressional Research Service).
- It's reposted again and again with the same description.
- It comes with other signs: talent-pool wording, no team or manager, or no pay range where the law requires one.
Paste the link into our free ghost job checker. It shows when the role was posted and, for Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby and SmartRecruiters links, asks the employer's hiring system whether it's still open.
How to find the real posting date
- Open the role on the employer's own careers page. The address often names their hiring system (greenhouse.io, lever.co, ashbyhq.com), which shows the original listing.
- On LinkedIn, look for "Reposted" beside the date. See how to tell if a LinkedIn job is still open.
- Search the exact title with the company's name. Older copies on other boards can show when it first appeared.
A simple rule of thumb
Under a month old: apply normally. One to three months: apply, but confirm it's still open on the employer's own site first. Over three months with no sign of activity: a quick application at most, unless someone inside confirms the team is hiring.