With the rise of AI, increasing demand for flex work, and a growing number of fractional hires, change is the name of the game in modern hiring.
And if we know anything about change, it’s that it’s never easy. But it’s almost always a great opportunity to level up. That’s why we went straight to the source to learn exactly where today’s top hires are coming from.
We analyzed the hiring paths of over 3.2 million applications for open positions across the US and Europe for our annual Source of Hire (SOH) report. And what we found could change how you focus your time, energy and resources.
Today, we’re sharing the top three takeaways to help you make better hires every time.
Top 3 takeaways for better hires
- Keep high-volume job boards in the mix
- Leverage your career site and employee referrals
- Hire faster than the competition
What is the Breezy Source of Hire report?
Each year, our team at Breezy analyzes hiring data from hundreds of recruiters and hiring managers to learn which recruitment channels are delivering the most applicants, interviews, and job offers.
The data for this year’s report spans four of the top job sites, as well as employer-owned channels, like company career portals and hires made in partnership with external recruiters.
With deeper insight into the numbers behind each recruitment channel, you can assess whether your best sources of hire are performing like they should and refocus your energy on the channels that deliver the best results.
Top 3 takeaways from this year’s report
Despite rising unemployment, job growth remains strong in multiple sectors, including health care, food service and construction – to name a few. For the 75% of companies that report difficulty in filling roles, the recruiting struggle remains painfully real.
And then there’s the economy. While things are certainly looking up, constant ebbs and flows have led more than half of the employers surveyed by Breezy to believe the market will have a major impact on their hiring efforts.
So how can you keep your strategy ahead of the curve? Here’s what the data has to say.
1. High-volume job boards are still a must
In last year’s Source of Hire Report, we found that niche job boards had the fastest time-to-fill. And while they remain a great source for finding candidates with specialized skill sets, large online job boards are still a necessity for those who want the widest possible talent pool for their job openings.
According to our findings, it’s been a big year for high-traffic employment sites.
Indeed in particular accounted for 75% of the total hires made across all four job sites. The mega site also minimized pipeline leakage from application to hire, with offers extended to 64% of candidates and accepted by 50%.
Based on this data, it’s clear that large job boards are still vital to recruitment efforts. They cast a wide net, increase traffic to job ads, and allow job seekers to apply for multiple positions in one sitting.
But these high-traffic websites are only as effective as your job postings. Strong job descriptions with a clear list of requirements, a strong employer value prop, and transparent salary range are critical to attracting quality applicants on Indeed, or any other major hiring platform.
And if possible, adding flex or remote work can be a huge bonus.
2. Don’t neglect your owned channels
Competition from other companies remains among the top three biggest challenges for today’s employers. While third-party job boards clearly have a big role to play, company career portals are also a powerful way to keep all qualified candidate eyes on you – not the competition.
And in a competitive hiring climate, they're also a proven way to funnel top-shelf candidates directly into your pipeline.
Company-owned career sites and job portals account for over 85% of total hires made from offline and owned sources.
But like all recruitment strategies, balance is key. While career portals are a favorite, external recruiters and employee referrals are often overlooked, contributing to less than 10% of total hires each.
Depending on the goals of your recruitment team and the talent market in your industry, a well-balanced recruitment strategy may consist of global job sites, a well-branded career page, an employee referral program, and a small roster of external recruiters for finding talent with specialized or hard-to-find skills (think: c-levels and software engineers).
Keep in mind, your career site isn’t just a place to host your job ads. With a spotlight on your employer brand, it provides a level of trust that offsite job ads just can’t duplicate.
To really make the most of your owned and offline channels, dedicate equal time and attention to your employee referral portal as a source of hire. This untapped resource should be just as core to your recruiting foundation as the large job boards, especially if you want high-quality hires without the hefty recruitment costs.
3. Move quickly to snap up the best candidates
In today’s talent market, the companies that succeed in winning top talent are those that can move top candidates from interview to offer on a dime.
According to our findings, Indeed is the #1 source of hire with a hired rate 4x larger than its closest competitor.
Although it may be the best option for employers looking for a large volume of candidates, it may not be the fastest. That honor goes to ZipRecruiter.
With a time to hire of just 38 days, ZipRecruiter is nearly 10x faster than Indeed according to our data.
This makes it the perfect option when you need to fill an urgent position quickly – but it’s not enough to post and go. You may also need to update your current hiring process to shorten the time from sourcing to interview, and from interview to job offer.
That’s where the right pre-screening tools can be priceless. From blind hiring tools to skills assessments and candidate questionnaires, a well-planned pre-screening stage can help you spend less time looking for the needles in the haystack and more time connecting with your best candidates.
Another key component of pedal-to-the-metal recruiting? Automated candidate management.
With candidate-friendly automations, you can keep in touch with personalized emails to candidates as they move through each stage of your recruitment process.
But you can’t afford to lose choice candidates to glacial processes. To speed things up, focus on scheduling interviews and sending offer letters ASAP.
Round out your recruitment strategy
As you hone your hiring strategy, remember: balance is key.
While global job boards can broaden your reach, your branded career site and employee referral program can help you increase trust with discerning candidates. Because when push comes to shove, competition is steep. Quality candidates are in demand and no one wants to wait around to find out if they’ve scored the gig.
By sharpening your tools and tactics based on what already works, you can recruit better and faster than the competition.
And at Breezy, that’s what we’re all about. In today's fast-paced talent market, our mission is to make life as a hiring manager easy, with automated tools to help you instantly post to all the top free job boards, access premium job sites at a discount, and create beautifully branded career sites without the help of a web designer.
For more on how to level up your recruitment strategy, download the full Source of Hire Report. Or start making better hires in half the time with a free 14-day trial of Breezy.
