Source of Hire: How to Measure Which Recruitment Channels Work

Source of hire is the channel a candidate came from, such as a job board, a referral, your careers page or direct outreach. To measure it, record the source for every candidate when they enter the pipeline, then compare channels by how many applied, how many reached each stage and how many were hired. Look at hires, not only applications.

Record the source at the door

The source is easiest to capture when the candidate arrives, through a tracked link or a form field. Asking later relies on memory and is often wrong. Use a short, fixed list of sources so the data stays comparable.

Measure down the funnel

Applications per channel are a vanity number. Compare, for each channel, the share that passed screening, reached interview and received and accepted an offer. A channel with fewer applicants but more hires is better than a busy one that produces none.

Include cost and time

Add the cost of each channel and the time to hire from it. A free channel that is slow may cost more in vacancy time than a paid one that is quick. The cost of a vacancy calculation helps put a number on delay.

Beware small numbers

If a channel has sent five candidates, one hire swings the result. Treat small samples as prompts for questions, not conclusions, and look again after more hires.

Credit the real source

A candidate may see your job on a board, search for your company and apply on your website. Decide a rule, such as the first or the last touch, and apply it consistently so reports do not argue with each other.

In Rezumz

Candidates get a source when they arrive, such as your apply page, the CV inbox, an upload or an import. The analytics page shows a source report and a drop-off report by stage, so you can see where candidates were lost.