What Are Your Recruiting Metrics?

A few weeks ago, I was commenting on an interesting blog post and video at Dice, a career site for technology and engineering professionals. In the video, several recruiters were asked, “What is your most innovative recruiting tip for 2012?” Several answers were given: Twitter, networking events, referrals, brand-building, YouTube, video interviewing, Facebook, Google+, personal touch, and cold calling, to name a few. One woman mindlessly suggested retweeting job postings on the incredibly provocative TV show, Tosh.0 on Comedy Central to gain more visibility and exposure.

The only sensible response that was given resonated very closely with me. One woman said that it’s absolutely critical to follow your metrics and track your analytics. Recruiting metrics are data we have right in front of us, so why aren’t we using it more? There is no one-size-fits-all strategy to recruiting. You don’t know what industry or at what job grade/level I’m recruiting for, so how can you tell me to get more involved in this or that? You want an SVP of Sales with 15 years of experience? Trust me, your suggestion to find that candidate on MySpace is going to fall on deaf ears. Instead, why don’t you focus on what you’re currently doing to source new candidates and measure that against what’s worked in recent times?

I predominantly recruit for sales, marketing and some technical positions from entry all the way to VP levels. I’ve made 20+ placements this year for OpenView Venture Partners and our portfolio, and this is what my metrics tell me: Linkedin (43%) is the lifeblood of my success as a recruiter. However, it wouldn’t be fair to say referrals (24%), my personal network (19%) and even a few job boards (14%) haven’t pulled their weight in getting me top talent.

I now have a much clearer idea now of my recruiting strategy and look forward to fine-tuning it even further for 2012. Find out what works best for you and take your search efforts to another level. Happy Thanksgiving!