SilkRoad Identifies Most Effective Recruitment Sources in New Report

Company Career Websites Identified as Top Online Source of Hires

CHICAGO, IL– Research from SilkRoad, a leading global provider of cloud-based social talent management software, reveals that a company’s career website is its best online source of hires. Released today, SilkRoad’s 2013 “Recruitment Marketing Effectiveness: Meaningful Metrics Straight from the Source” report mined the hiring data of more than 1000 SilkRoad client companies to reveal the most successful sources for generating candidate interviews and hires. While the popular job search engine Indeed.com provided the greatest volume of interviews overall, employee referrals provided companies the greatest value by generating the most hires overall. When it came to delivering both volume and value, a company’s career website was among the most effective recruitment sources.

“We are seeing more companies than ever before investing in growing their employer brand online,” said Flip Filipowski, Executive Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer at SilkRoad. “One of this report’s most telling findings is that a company’s career website is its single most effective online source of hires. Across the board, companies that offer candidates cohesive and engaging online career portals are attracting and hiring best-fit talent.”

Top Findings:

• Internal sources deliver the most hires: Internal sources produced more hires (58 percent) compared to external sources (42 percent). Employee referrals remained the strongest internal source of hires (44 percent).
• External sources deliver the most interviews: External sources provided the majority of interviews (56 percent) as opposed to internal sources (44 percent). Indeed.com was the top external source, producing two and a half times more interviews than the next largest external source, Career Builder.
• External sources are growing more valuable: External sources generated roughly six percent more interviews and hires in 2012 than they had in 2011.
• Online sources are growing more valuable: Online sources (both internal and external) provided 65 percent of all interviews and 48 percent of all hires in 2012, a marked increase over 2011, when they produced 42 percent and 28 percent, respectively.
• Top online sources are Indeed.com and company career websites: Of online sources (both internal and external), Indeed.com provided the most interviews (27 percent) and company career websites accounted for the largest number of hires (30 percent).
• All job boards are not created equal: Career Builder emerged as the top job board, producing 127 percent more interviews and hires than runner-up Monster. LinkedIn fell to fourth on the list of top job boards, but showed increases as a source of both interviews and hires since 2011.

The 2013 “Recruitment Marketing Effectiveness: Meaningful Metrics Straight from the Source” report findings are based on primary data drawn directly from the OpenHire® applicant tracking systems of more than 1000 SilkRoad client companies. The participating companies ranged in size from as few as 100 employees to much larger companies, including 10 of the Fortune 50 companies. For all of 2012, the data included more than 10 million applicants, over 300,000 interviews, and in excess of 150,000 hires. Examples of external sources include specific job search engines, branded and unspecified job boards, print advertising, TV/Radio advertising, job fairs and agencies. Examples of internal sources include recruiter sourced (employer sourcing), company career sites (employer websites), referrals and inside hires.

About SilkRoad
SilkRoad is a leading global provider of cloud-based social talent management software. Their passion for creating the finest employee experience drives everything they do. The award-winning SilkRoad Life Suite® is an integrated set of employer-branded TM/HCM solutions that power businesses with the latest Web 2.0 and social media innovations: OpenHire® for recruiting, RedCarpet® for onboarding and life events, WingSpan® for performance management, GreenLight® for learning management, Point™ and Eprise for Social Collaboration and Content, and HeartBeat® for trusted HRMS. The Life Suite is ideally suited for businesses of every size because of its unique and open “start anywhere” architecture — implement the complete suite or begin with one solution and add functionality as you need it. Either way, it’s the fastest path to develop more productive and empowered employees who can rapidly boost business performance. Visit www.silkroad.com, follow them on Twitter @SilkRoadTweets or call 866-329-3363 (U.S. toll free) or +1-336-201-5100.