Where do you get your applicants from? Australian talent sourcing survey produces some unexpected results.
An Australian survey produced some interesting data in respect to talent sourcing. In particular it appears that corporate Australia has not been as quick to adopt social networking as perhaps is the case in the USA and the UK. This could mean that there are particular differentiation possibilities for recruiters using sites such as Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook enabling them to source candidates that are not only exclusive to them but that employers would have little possibility of gaining access to if not for these recruiters.
The Source of Talent, 09 report was the result of surveying 409 organisations in Australia on their hiring practices. These organisations made a total of 92,136 hires in the 12 month period to which the report referenced. Compared, is the effectiveness of 17 different identifiable sources of talent.
“The study reveals clear national trends but the sources of talent vary according to regional location, size of company, types of organisation and industry sector,” said Phillip Tusing, founder of Destination Talent, and co-author of the report.
Job boards emerged as the most dominant source of talent, accounting for 29.64% of total hires. Internal recruiters and corporate websites also ranked highly as sources of talent, accounting for 16.78% and 10.60% respectively. There is also a clear demarcation between employers and professional recruiters on their degree of dependence on various sources of talent. While organisations in the Northern Territory rely heavily on walk-ins, those in the Australian Capital Territory prefer to use internal recruiters and the rest of the country prefer job boards.
“We are surprised by many of the findings, some in contrast to established norms within the HR and Recruitment industries. For instance, referrals are only the fourth most successful source of talent. It is also interesting that in the last twelve months social media as a recruitment source has been virtually ignored by corporate Australia,” explained Inspecht Founder and co-author of the report Michael Specht.
Besides painting a clearer picture on the methods organisations utilise to source talent, the report is intended to stimulate debate around the collection of recruitment data and encourage the better monitoring of various sources. The report is available for free download at: www.talentsource.com.au.