Since 2001 CareerXroads has annually published a highly anticipated Source of Hire report. Each of these lab reports cover thousands of hires per year and effectively shares the research and survey results grouped by job family, geography, level and industry.

1. Source of Hire 2015
One last time - because no one “gets it.”
Gerry Crispin | Chris Hoyt
CareerXroads | www.careerxroads.com

2. 2016 Colloquium Members
chris.hoyt@careerxroads.com | gerry.crispin@careerxroads.com
AARP AbbVie ADP Amazon AstraZeneca
Avery Dennison BASF Buffalo Wild Wings Campbell’s CapitalOne
Cargill CDK Global Cigna Citrix Comcast
Corning Davita Dell Deluxe Disney
Edward Jones Eli Lilly Enterprise Holdings Ernst & Young FedEx Office
Fidelity Fifth Third Bank GE Genentech Highmark Health
IFF Informatica Ingersoll Rand Intuit Johnson & Johnson
JP Morgan Chase Keysight Kimberly-Clark Lockheed Martin Macy’s
Manulife Marriott International Merck Nationwide Nike
Northwestern Mutual Ortho Clinical Diagnostics PepsiCo Pitney Bows PNLL
QVC RSM Schneider Electric Scotia Bank Shaw Industries
Shell Southern California Edison Sprouts State Farm Stryker
Target Thermo Fisher Scientific Time Warner Time Warner Cable Two Sigma
Verizon Wireless Waste Management Wegmans Wells Fargo Whirlpool
Yum! Brands

3. The Back Story
Every year since 2001 we have published a ‘lab report’ on Source of Hire.
(They are all still archived on our site)
The point of it is that the quality of the data currently found within ALL ATSs is still, and especially today,
too ugly to use for effective decision making.
Vendors who bolt on other solutions to cherry pick internet candidate movement collect equally flawed data.
They [mostly] embarrass themselves with their hype over their claims to be measuring ‘best source of hire
data’.
The online debate only confuses small and medium size firms.
Larger firms know better or simply confuse themselves.
We are happy to chat [briefly] with any employer and will offer in early January a discussion of these slides
for employers. We will happily make time or, support the efforts of any consultant or vendor striving to build
a practical strategy that realistically integrates SOH data (click here to schedule) but, we are sun-setting the
annual CareerXroads SOH Lab Report with this last deck

4. The Back Story
“Source” is meaningless. It’s how you play your hand that counts.
GI = GO is as constant as E-MC2
Slices by Job Family, Geography, Level and Industry that correlate time,
cost, quality and yield are almost too obvious…
and yet no one does it well.
Sources are interdependent and therefore cannot add up to 100%
(They add up to at least 200%!)
Analysts and researchers who misrepresent that 100k hires by 10k firms = 100k hires by 10 firms (by hiding
their demographic data) have never recruited. And THAT is the nicest thing we say about them.
Strategy
trumps tactics
EVERY day.

5. How many Full-time US positions did you fill in the last year with internal
movement OR external hires?
Total:
255,750
Weighted Avg:
6,912

6. What % of your total hires were filled by internal transfers and promotions of
F/T employees?
Weighted
Avg:
37.1%

7. Assume the average recruiter filled 105 positions annually. If total time to
fill is 60 days then recruiters would have 17.5 requisitions open at any one
time.
How many recruiters AND sourcers (equivalent F/T, contract or RPO) did it
take to fill ALL of the hires - external and internal excluding admin and
support personnel?
2,444

8. What % of your total hires were exempt positions?
46.1%

9. What % of your US workforce consists of Flexible (Contract, Contingent &
Part-Time) workers?
Weighted
Avg:
16.3%

10. “Our models vary by business unit. In the West, we are wholly outsourced for transactional recruiting, but lead sourcing strategy and administration. Corporate HQ is totally
insourced, other units have contractors onsite, and still others have different RPO setups. There are many different RPOs across the company.”
“We do not use any traditional RPO providers. Global hiring is supported by combination of company Recruiters and HR Generalists. Some report to centralized US Corp.
Talent Acquisition and some do not.”
“The majority of our hires are in retail and most of those are done by store managers. About 25% done by RPO globally.”
“RPO Vender hires all Retail P/T positions.”
“As a general rule, Recruiters handle Exempt positions, and Store Managers handle non-exempt.”
“We just started using RPO for Sourcing only.”
Which statement(s) best reflect your RPO situation?

11. How many employees were hired by your firm
outside the US in the last year?
Do you think asking similar
source of hire questions
outside the US makes
sense?
No. (77.14%)
Why not?!
Confidence in the data!
Total:
148,075
Weighted Avg:
4,777

12. What % of your total hires did you screen or interview candidates at some
point by using digital video interviews?
6.8%

13. What % of your applicants use mobile devices to...
0% 1-5% 6-10% 10-25% 26-50% 51-75% 76-100%
Learn about your jobs 0% 6.45% 9.68% 19.35% 35.48% 29.03% 0%
Research your firm,
culture, people, etc.
0% 3.33% 13.33% 16.67% 43.33% 20.00% 3.33%
Apply to your
opportunities
16.13% 12.90% 16.13% 22.58% 19.35% 12.90% 0.00%

14. What proportion of hires come from “posting” a job via social media sites
such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Glassdoor, etc.?

15. What portion of your hires are sourced, contacted via or driven through SEM
campaigns using social media?

16. What % apply as a result of what they learned after visiting your company
career page?
Weighted
Avg:
31.4%

17. What % apply as a result of referrals?
Weighted
Avg:
22.2%

18. What % of hires were former employees?
Weighted
Avg:
6.5%

19. What % were hired via job boards and/or social media sites used as job
boards? (not including aggregators like Indeed and Simply Hired)
Weighted
Avg:
9.85%

20. What % were hired via “well known” job aggregators like Indeed and
Simply Hired?
Weighted
Avg:
17.3%

21. What % of your hires were sourced from target colleges, college fairs, intern
conversions, etc.?
Weighted
Avg:
8.3%

22. What % of your hires do you attribute to sources and recruiters who directly
identify, track down and communicate with prospects that eventually wind up
being hired?
Weighted
Avg:
11.2%

23. What % of your hires in the last year do you attribute to contingent and
search agencies?
Weighted
Avg:
3.5%

24. What % of your hires were a result of general and specialized career fairs?
Weighted
Avg:
2.9%

25. What % of your hires were a result of groups, communities, pipelines and
other enhanced databases you’ve set up to communicate and share content
with prospects who had not applied or had not been hired previously?
Weighted
Avg:
2.8%

26. What % of your hires were a result of print ads and employment branding
placed in newspapers, journals, magazines, etc.
Weighted
Avg:
1.8%

27. What % of your hires were a result of ads and employment branding placed
on radio, tv, cable and other non-interactive (non-internet) media?
Weighted
Avg:
0.6%

28. What % of your hires were sourced from part-time employees, contractors or
other contingent workers who were working for your firm?
(Does not include interns.)
Weighted
Avg:
8.9%

29. What % of your hires were walk-ins, i.e. applied in-store, in-facility, etc.?
Weighted
Avg:
1%

30. When all's said and done, what is your current relationship with each of these
current and former “major” players?
Don’t Use Minimal
Modest
Contract
Significant
Contract
#1 cost of
the four
#2 cost of
the four
#3 cost of
the four
#4 cost of
the four
Monster 59.46% 16.22% 10.81% 13.51% 5.41% 10.81% 5.41% 32.43%
Careerbuilder 27.03% 35.14% 24.32% 16.22% 0.00% 10.81% 35.14% 10.81%
LinkedIn 2.7% 0.00% 16.22% 78.38% 59.46% 8.11% 0.00% 0.00%
Glassdoor 30.56% 19.44% 38.89% 13.89% 2.78% 27.78% 5.56% 16.67%

31. When all's said and done, what will your relationship be with these current
and former “major” players over the next year?
Not Use
Minimal
Use
Modest
Contract
Significant
Contract
Expect #1
ROI of the
four
Expect #2
ROI of the
four
Expect #3
ROI of the
four
Expect #4
ROI of the
four
Monster 55.56% 25.00% 5.56% 13.89% 2.78% 13.89% 5.56% 30.56%
Careerbuilder 36.11% 27.78% 25.00% 13.89% 2.78% 13.89% 16.67% 19.44%
LinkedIn 0.00% 0.00% 24.32% 72.97% 56.76% 2.70% 5.41% 0.00%
Glassdoor 17.14% 17.14% 48.57% 14.29% 2.86% 34.29% 11.43% 11.43%

32. Various ATS’s and other technology vendors are reporting SOH by studying
the “big data” they’ve collected from hundreds of clients using their tools.
How confident are you that when you pull a report on source of hire from any
single or combination of technologies tracking your data that you have
accurate information without considerable human effort being used to adjust
the report results using data not yet integrated?

33. “We have source codes attached to our job postings on all job sources. This
automatically translates as a prepopulated "How did you hear about this job" on the
candidate's application. The recruiters then verify this when speaking with the
candidates. A monthly report is pulled from [ATS] analyzing these
application/source of hire sources. A quarterly report is pulled together for the
Global Talent Acquisition team to review.”
“We do use SOH data as an element of ROI when contracts are up for JBs. We
also use it with applicant data to track SM site activity. (We have regional brand
ambassadors and are aggressive in getting the Brand front and center.) For a big
pic we know that about 40% of positions are filled internally - that leaves 60% for
external - of that 60% roughly 35% are referrals, leaving 25% spread over SM and
JBs. (Rehires, UR hires can fall under other sources) SOH data comes from
candidate application - a candidate can have multiple sources across multiple
applications in a given time period.”
“Source of hire data is collected in our ATS, and is used to analyze recruiter usage
of sourcing channels and sourcing channel investments. We have some concerns
over the accuracy of our source data - correct source data is sometimes lost when
moving a candidate from one req to another, and candidates often alter their
source of hire during the recruitment process. Looking to improve our reporting this
year.”
“Track SOH through our Recruiting Analytics team.”
“We use [ATS] and we are implementing (recruiting marketing) platform to help us
better capture source of hire.”
“Track all media and social performance and use to allocate where and how much to
put our $”
“Collect via self-ID by candidate in ATS but we have the Recruiter confirm actual
source recorded in our data. We use SOH data to drive budget for best ROI.”
“Information is taken from the ATS on a quarterly basis, reviewed, and analyzed.”
“By the applicant identifying it on their application.”
“We ask for a form to be completed by recruiter or staffing specialist at the end of the
process to identify a set list of categories and sources. Our training has focused on
looking at source codes, phone screen notes or applications to identify the best option
for source.”
“Through Applicant tracking, embedded source URL, LinkedIn metrics, etc. Challenge
with questions above is that while the candidate may have heard about SCE through
TV, Radio ads, they select our website for the specific job so accuracy is not there.”
“We need to reset on how we report this b/c the belief is that it is nearly completely
unreliable data from our ATS”
Please describe briefly how you collect, analyze and use source of hire data...

34. “Third party vendor [name] collects all front end applicant tracking information.
Monthly ATS extract is sent to complete the candidate pipeline. Our recruiters
choose from a pick-list the general source of hire category when completing the
offer letter information.”
“ATS data capture and reporting.”
“Work with our media firm, [name], to tag all sources and give them a feed of all
hires to calibrate source.”
“Directly from our Applicant Tracking System.”
“Combine Google Analytics, [Vendor] and [ATS] data to come up with source of
hire as well as source of influence. I trust the data but there is significant human
intervention to create shareable reports.”
“We rely on applicants to complete the source of hire option when applying; we are
not currently tracking via hard coding on requisitions where the applicant comes
from, therefore our data is only as accurate as what the applicant selects.”
“We use our ATS but also query our hires directly.”
“Pull ATS reports. Verify report data with Recruiters. Unable to track multiple
sources. Candidates have the ability to self identify which is not always
reliable/accurate.”
“Reports from our ATS and reports from those we have contract with. Of course we
look at ROI and also does the tool contribute to building pipeline.”
“Through tracking codes in [ATS]. Create source effectiveness report to review
applicants, interviews, offers and hires by source type. Use to determine ROI of
investment, strategy for future investments and agency usage.”
“We ask the candidates- we embed the source in the link etc…”
“We don't currently. Our market has been mostly regional and people applying at our
career site. Wi, IL, MI, MN.”
“We collect from the candidate at point of profile creation and then on each job they
apply to. We bundle our ATS sources into two levels - top level would be things like
(internet, referrals, professional associations) and the second level would be granular
within each level. Some of our vendors will supply candidate detail with their monthly
metric summaries. However, we don't always agree with their methods. For instance,
LinkedIn claims they are the source for more hires than we would attribute back to
them.”
“[ATS], company registration database
Our SOH data is not very accurate. It is currently collected, analyzed and updated
monthly by a Program Manager who has source reporting as one of his
responsibilities.”
Please describe briefly how you collect, analyze and use source of hire data...

35. “Less money into traditional job boards, more money into social media and
proactive sourcing capabilities. More money on diversity/inclusion initiatives.”
“In general - don't think spending will change - just a general comment that as
social media continues to gain strength as a means of branding - source of hire (as
a direct line) becomes less clear.”
“Significant investment in building and leveraging our new Talent Community.
Continues focus on referrals. Decreased spend on traditional job boards and job
aggregation sites.”
“Will shift our spend based on data collected and tracked for each media and social
campaign.”
“No change.”
“Have a broady set of tools, and not all in one basket, like LinkedIn. Continue to
invest in social media, and sample more.”
“Have recruiters complete SOH for every role they fill.”
“Job Boards and Global Linkedin licenses.”
“Improve source tracking.”
“The goal is to use less agency partners. In order to do this, we need more qualified
applicants to apply on their own, or our internal sourcing team to be more effective.
We have hired on an additional contractor for our sourcing team. We have made
changes to our posting contracts, got rid of or changed the contracts with the lowest
ROI, while keeping a presence in specialty markets (veteran disability, etc.).”
“Focus is on employee referrals this year.”
“Look at replacing some LinkedIn spend with other engines (Gild, Entelo, etc). Will
review Glassdoor price increase. Did not renew in 2014, used in 2013, will review
difference. Continue to use Findly Smartbuy with media.”
“Increase in Sourcing and Scouting within Target areas of need.”
“Moving to Google Analytics as our source of truth for SOH data. Moving away from
last touch attribution model that ATS' offer.”
“Researching recruitment firm use; more focus with military, diversity and college
recruitment. Plan to spend the same as this year.”
“Increasing our brand awareness through Social Media and referrals”
“New ATS with ability to track multiple sources. Force automated reporting of source
and potentially limiting or taking away ability for candidate to self identify.”
What specifically do you plan to change about your recruiting strategy to
strengthen or shift your sources of hire over the next year? Where will you
spend more or less money?

36. “This is not a high priority for us this year, but something we will look at in the
future.”
“Implement HRIS so that we can determine what advertising means are the most
effective, implement behavioral testing in the applicant phase and for all Match MG
locations are on the same platform and can share data, advertising, cross
exchange applicants, etc.”
“We are looking to re-evaluate our vendor relationships and create a more robust
campus recruitment strategy.”
“Trying to identify ways to get administrative and non recruiting "stuff" off of the
recruiters’ plates.”
“More investment into Talent Community and targeted campaigns, ramped up
internal sourcing team, using Wanted Analytics to determine where to focus
sourcing activities, using Bounty Jobs to help track contingent agency performance
indicators and explore the BountyJobs Marketplace of additional agents to
consider.”
“Everything. Social Strategy tracking success as to where candidates are coming
from.”
“We are going to move to a functional recruiting model in our salaried hiring in 2016.
Our goal is to always reduce our spend on job boards, however that is a huge cultural
shift for our front line. We are also automating hourly hiring, so that will give us greater
visibility into how the front line is hiring today. With the visibility and data, we hope to
be able to re-direct their reliance on job boards into other channels.”
“Until their is a new disruptor in the space, LinkedIn will continue to get the lion share
of this budget. Indeed and CareerBuilder will remain status quo unless they provide
new capabilities. I am suspect of the data Indeed shares with us relative to their ROI.”
“We are re-implementing SuccessFactors next year with many third party integrations
which will help us better target spending and data capture in future years.”
What specifically do you plan to change about your recruiting strategy to
strengthen or shift your sources of hire over the next year? Where will you
spend more or less money?

37. Source of Hire 2015
One last time - because no one “gets it.”
Gerry Crispin | Chris Hoyt
CareerXroads | www.careerxroads.com