Where to Post Jobs? There’s an Algorithm for That

Sourcing talent is a science.  There may never be a time where company can say, “Accountant, Lansing Michigan,” and an accountant will just appear. But SmartRecruiters, the hiring platform, is using Big Data to predict sourcing effectiveness. How? It starts with posting over 100,000 unique jobs to over 100 job boards, publications and social networks.

SmartRecruiters measures the quantity AND quality of candidates for each job. It then aggregates this data to rank the best performing job boards for any particular position and location. Because the SmartRecruiters platform includes a full applicant tracking system, it is in the unique position to be able to measure the quality of candidates based on their progress in the hiring pipeline. The algorithm places different weighted values upon each hiring status for each candidate. So if you are hiring an intern, Craigslist may bring in more candidates, but a niche site such as, CollegeRecruiter or Youtern, usually shows up as a better performing board because a higher percentage of their candidates progress to the interview stage, and ultimately onto making hires.

While the biggest job boards, such as Monster, CareerBuilder, Indeed, and LinkedIn, continue to drive job listings, SmartRecruiters reports that 62% of job postings (across 50,000+ customers) are to niche job boards and websites. Through SmartRecruiters, businesses are also advertising jobs where candidates read, meaning publications such as Wired, communities such as 37signals, and social networks such as Facebook.

In posting thousands of jobs every week, SmartRecruiters continues to refine this algorithm. The future is: you share the job details and location, and SmartRecruiters reports how many candidates, qualified candidates, and very qualified candidates each source will produce.