Software Advice conducted a survey to determine which channels deliver the best candidates to recruiters. What did we find? Social seems here to stay.

1. Social Media Dominates
Recruiting Channels
IndustryView Report
Trends and best practices from the industry.

2. Abstract
We recently completed our 2013 Recruiting Channels Survey in order to
determine which channels recruiters found delivered the highest volume and
quality of candidates. Key findings include:
• Employee referrals are the most often-used sourcing strategy for recruiters.
• Traditional job boards deliver the highest volume of candidates.
• Almost half of the recruiters who responded plan to increase their investment
in social media recruiting.

3. Current Use of Recruiting Channels
Employee referrals
Traditional job boards
Company careers pages
Social media
Staffing firms
Campus recruiting
Job fairs
Other
Recruiting parties
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Percentage of respondents using each channel
97 percent of recruiters said they used employee referrals to source new hires.
Traditional job boards and company careers pages were second and third.
Meanwhile, 80 percent of recruiters said they used social media to find candidates.

4. Channels Delivering the Highest Volume of Candidates
Traditional job boards
Employee referrals
Social media
Company careers pages
Campus recruiting
Job fairs
Staffing firms
Other
Recruiting parties
0
15
30
45
Number of respondents
The channel delivering the most candidates into recruiters’ inboxes was still
traditional job boards, while employee referrals came in second. Social media
came in at a strong third.
60

5. Channels Delivering the Highest Quality of Candidates
Employee referrals
Social media
Traditional job boards
Company careers pages
Campus recruiting
Staffing firms
Job fairs
Recruiting parties
Other
0
20
40
60
80
Number of respondents
While traditional job boards delivered the most candidates, employee referrals still
deliver (by far) the best candidates for open positions. However, more respondents
said social media delivered high quality candidates than traditional job boards.

6. Projected Use and Budget for Each Channel in 2013
Social media
Company careers pages
Campus recruiting
Employee referrals
Job fairs
Other
Traditional job boards
Recruiting parties
Staffing firms
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Percent of respondents
Although traditional job boards, employee referrals and company careers pages
were the three most used channels, recruiters plan to invest more in social media
in 2013.

7. Read Report
Read about our findings in more detail.
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