No Data = No Plan

W. Edwards Deming an American Data Scientist said "Without Data you're just another person with an Opinion." From a recruiting perspective we need to capture, understand, and use data to help us drive decisions. On a daily basis we have to make decisions about how and where we spend our time and what advertisement we invest in. Therefore, it is important to track the referral source of your candidates and use it.

Collecting source information will ensure visibility into the return on investment (ROI) data. This data should be used to drive advertisement decisions, pace points (Daily hiring goals). If your ROI data shows that most of your new hires come from source “A”, you may want to increase the percentage (%) of your advertisement spend in source “A” versus of decreasing it.

When it comes to recruitment advertising, there are several options and approaches. When recruiting in a high volume environment it is important cast a large net and use profile data to screen through candidates to find the best fit. In order to cast a wide net and continuously drive volume it is necessary to use a combination of the following tools:

• Job boards: Indeed, Zip Recruiter, CareerBuilder, Monster, Craigslist, Glassdoor, etc

• Multimedia: Radio, Digital radio, News, TV Commercials, Paid Guest Appearances, etc.

• Print: Newspaper, Magazines, industry specific publications, etc.

• Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, etc.

• Targeted Advertisement: Candidate targeting, retargeting, and candidate mirroring

In order to build a successful advertisement strategy, you need to forecast hiring needs to determine when and where to run your ads. Most companies prefer to plan at least a quarter in advance. Some companies use the previous year(s) hiring numbers to forecast or project needs for the following year. A good forecaster will look at the previous year’s plan and adjust based on recent trends.

Once you have compiled your forecast, ROI data, current market rates, you have enough data to list out source, event dates, and to create an estimated cost per hire and build the foundation of your plan. The cost per hire is the total number of hires divided by the total spend. Prior to finalizing your strategy you should also review what your competitors are doing and make sure your plan is competitive. You should review your strategy monthly to ensure your results match your forecast. It is important to adjust to an ever changing market.

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