Recruitment Sources

Recruitment sources are among the most frequently studied aspects of employee recruitment. Recruitment sources are the avenues organizations use to reach applicants. Evidence suggests that the choice of recruitment sources is a strategic decision, in the sense that there are relationships between recruitment sources and employment outcomes. However, the exact nature and reasons for those effects remain ambiguous.

Traditional recruitment sources include employee referrals, employment agencies (including campus placement offices and executive search firms), online job boards, career pages on company Web sites, newspaper advertisements, career fairs, employee referrals, and unsolicited applications (known as walk-ins).

Recruitment sources can be either formal or informal. Formal sources typically involve a third-party intermediary that assists in the recruitment process, such as an employment agency, a college placement office, or a ...