I recently completed a detailed analysis of 1.65 million job postings over a two-month period, focusing on listings directly from employer career pages instead of job aggregators. I found that half of the postings disappear by day 28, with a significant drop occurring in just one week. My data set included postings from 23,857 employers, primarily in the US, with many listings lacking specific location information. Initially, I noticed that the first two weeks were relatively stable, with 86% of postings still active by day 7 and 75% by day 14. However, there was a dramatic decline between day 24 and day 30, where about a third of the remaining postings vanished. This pattern seemed consistent across most job functions, suggesting that many listings are removed due to administrative cycles rather than actual hiring activity. After the first month, only 29% of postings remained active by day 45, indicating that those that survive are either genuine long-term needs or what some refer to as 'ghost jobs.' I discovered that the most critical time to apply is during the fourth week, as many listings tend to expire around the 30-day mark. Unfortunately, the challenge lies in identifying which week a posting is in, especially since aggregator sites often refresh dates and can obscure the timeline. Overall, this analysis has provided me with valuable insights into the job market dynamics and the timing of job postings, which I plan to use to refine my job search strategy.