Recruitment Advertising | What delivers the best candidates - careers site, job boards, employee referrals, or something else?

The answer will depend on your sector, company size and, typically, the type of role you are seeking to fill.

There is also an abundance of other sourcing channels that talent acquisition teams use to attract candidates, for example, social media, paid online advertising and professional social networks, to name but a few.

In this insight, we share the typical sourcing workflow for in-house recruiters and how it might be time to evaluate the best options available to us to deliver the quantity and quality of candidates. And then there is the topic of measurement of channels.

Creatures of habit

Now more than ever, it is essential to be super effective with your recruitment efforts. There is a need to do more with less, find suitable candidates quickly for increasing vacancies and attract skilled resources that are typically in high demand.

We know from research that in-house recruiters follow the same or similar candidate sourcing workflow when presented with a new role to work on. Typically, in-house recruiters head straight to their website to advertise jobs on their careers site and only much later look to their existing candidate database.

Typical In-house Candidate Sourcing Workflow

1. Advertise the job on website/careers site (85%)

2. Advertise the job internally (83%)

3. Post job on specific job boards (80%)

4. Use a multi-posting service 18%

5. Seek referrals from our employees 67%

6. Advertise the position on LinkedIn 77%

7. Search our database/ATS/CRM & contact matching candidates 37%

8. Advertise the job on Social Media 54%

9. Contact Recruitment Agencies/PSL 36%

10. Search online candidate CV databases 30%

11. Search social/professional networks & contact matching candidates 48%

12. Use paid online advertising (PPC etc. 13%) Source: Candidate Attraction Report 2020/2021

Measure, measure and measure some more

When participants of the last UK Candidate Attraction Survey were asked how often they measure the effectiveness of their candidate sourcing channels, the responses were a mixed bag. Yet, we know that the impact of increasing measurement equates to getting a better return on recruitment advertising investment. See pages 23 -24 of the report for the benefits of measuring effectiveness.

To truly understand the ability of your candidate sourcing channels to deliver the right quality and quantity of candidates, it’s vital to measure and analyse your candidate data. We have a handy guide on what to measure and how to do it in this Recruitment Metrics Cookbook – all free, of course!

It’s your turn to get involved

Now it’s your turn to get involved in the UK Candidate Attraction Survey 2021/2022, and we invite you to take part and rate each of your candidate sourcing channels for the quantity and quality of candidates they generate. It takes 5-6 minutes to complete, and you can take part now.

What’s in it for you?

• It’s open to all UK-based in-house and agency recruiters and up for grabs is a chance to win a £200 Amazon Voucher by taking part.

• Everyone who completes the survey will get a copy of the extensive report findings

• You can benchmark yourself against your sector, understand the trends and behaviours and take action to improve the effectiveness of candidate sourcing channels.

Take Part in the Survey