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How long do job postings stay open? Our 2026 data

By Find your role first team · October 18, 2026, 21:00 UTC

How long do job postings stay open? In our October 2026 data, 10% of new roles closed within 3 days, 19% within 7 days and 26% within 10 days, and the median role that closed was gone in 5 days. We tracked 113,031 tech and business roles first seen October 5 to 9, 2026, and checked them again on October 18.

So most postings stay up longer than a week. The ones that close fast close very fast, and you can't tell from the outside which kind you're looking at.

How fast do job postings close?

Among the roles that closed, the median was 5 days. That means half of the closed roles came down within 5 days of when we first saw them.

Flip it around and 73% of these roles were still open on October 18, 9 to 13 days after we first saw them. A posting staying up doesn't tell you the team is still reading applications, though. Some stay up after a hire, and some come back later as reposts.

These numbers come from our job freshness study, which also measures how fast roles reach the feed and when companies post.

Why do some jobs close in 3 days?

One in ten roles was gone within 3 days. We can't see the reason for any one role, but the possibilities are familiar:

• The team already had a candidate in mind and posted to meet a process.
• Applications came in fast and the recruiter had enough to work with.
• The role was posted by mistake, or merged with another.

What we can see is the timing, and it says the first few days matter. If a role fits, apply while it's new. Our guide on seeing new job postings within hours covers how.

Are old postings coming back as new?

Some are. On one major applicant system, 6% of roles that showed up as new had a first published date more than 30 days earlier. Those are old roles reappearing.

A repost can still be a real opening. It can also be a sign the role is hard to fill, or that the company keeps it up all year. If you want to check a posting before you spend an hour on it, read how to tell if a job posting is a ghost job.

What does this look like at one company?

Stripe's company page on October 18, 2026 showed 730 open roles, 46 new in the last 7 days and 241 closed in the last 30. Closings are part of normal hiring, and they add up fast at a big employer.

Every company page shows the same three numbers: open now, new this week and closed in the last 30 days. It's a quick way to see whether a company is adding roles or mostly filling them.

How do I apply before a job closes?

Be early. The median role in our feed showed up 16 minutes after the company posted it, where the company publishes an exact time, and 95% within 3 hours. That's the gap you can close.

A few ways to do it with Find your role first:

1. Check the last 24 hours. New jobs by role are free with no sign in.
2. Follow companies. Follow up to 25 for free and get an email within about 15 minutes of a new role in your field.
3. Let your agent watch. For $9 a month, Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code or Codex can check what's new since your last look. Set it up at /connect.

Questions

How long do job postings usually stay up?

In our October 2026 data, 73% of new tech and business roles were still up 9 to 13 days after we first saw them. 26% had closed within 10 days.

What percentage of jobs close in the first week?

19% of the roles we tracked closed within 7 days, and 10% closed within 3 days.

How long does it take for a job posting to be filled?

We measure when a posting comes down, which isn't always when it's filled. Among roles that closed, the median was 5 days after we first saw them.

Should I apply to a job that's been up for two weeks?

Yes, if it fits. Most roles in our data were still open after 10 days. Check whether it's a repost first, and apply to new matches the day they appear.