Update: Applications Vs Sourcing

Introduction

In June, we published our Applications vs Sourcing report, which analysed the changes in the market over the last 12 months. This showed that Talent Managers were in an extremely strong position for making direct hires.

Application numbers were higher than ever before, allowing companies to be more selective. Sourcing was less competitive, meaning companies were getting a better return on outbound messages. Plus, a higher portion of the market was applying for positions, meaning relying on applications gave you wider access to the whole market.

4 months on, we wanted to publish an updated look at the data to see if these trends were persisting, and how that may impact our advice for Talent Managers.

Key Insights:

• The market remains dominated by applications, though this number is no longer rising and is instead stabilising.

• Candidates are continuing to experience a tough market, with the response rate to their applications continuing to fall

• We’ve seen the response rate for companies’ sourcing messages begin to decline too, perhaps suggesting the beginning of a more competitive market

• Applications have been the source of the majority of hires over the last 5 months

Applications remain dominant in the market

The percentage split between applications and sourcing messages in the market continues to favour applications as the most likely first interaction over sourcing messages.

Since our original report, there has been a 7.2% increase in the percentage of applications as first messages. However, since June 23 this number has begun to stabilise rather than continue the incline we saw in previous months.

Talent Managers could therefore assume that the market won’t continue to become even more application-heavy than it is currently. Perhaps, this could be an early indication of recovery in the market or even the beginning of a shift back to a more balanced (or even sourcing-dominated) hiring strategy.

With even fewer companies sourcing, Talent Managers are in a stronger position than ever to stand out from your competition by proactively sourcing. Doing so can also help boost the diversity within your tech teams, as well as give you access to the most in-demand talent, who are less likely to apply.

What does this mean for Talent Managers?

• You will continue to receive a high number of applications for your position compared with last year, but this is likely to stabilise at the this level

• Focusing on sourcing will allow you to stand out from the crowd, with very few messages being sent currently

Response rates are dropping, but sourcing messages are still getting a strong return compared to last year

Candidates are continuing to experience a declining response rate to their applications, with 16.1% in September being the lowest we’ve seen over the last 18 months, and a 52.2% decrease from what they could expect in June 2022.

For companies sending sourcing messages, we have seen the response rate from candidates drop by 10% to 47.6%, compared to 52.9% in May 23. This is potentially another indication of the hiring market beginning to shift back to being more competitive.

Whilst this is a decrease since our original report, this is still 14.6% higher than what you could expect in September of the previous year. This is still a great time for Talent Managers to focus on sourcing, with the return on your time being incredibly high in the less competitive market.

What does this mean for Talent Managers?

• Companies are continuing to be more selective with the applications they accept

• The response rate you receive from your messages has decreased slightly, though this is still significantly higher than this time last year

Applications still give you great access to the market

With more companies than ever relying purely on applications to fill their positions, we wanted to examine if doing so would mean you miss out on talent that wasn’t applying for positions.

We looked at the number of candidates on cord who never applied for a position. The data showed there was a 62.3% decrease in the candidates who didn’t apply, meaning applications now gave Talent Managers access to a wider portion of the market than ever before.

Our recent data upholds this trend, showing that you still get a much higher portion of the market through applications alone. We have seen this number steadily increase over recent months, however, perhaps suggesting an upcoming shift in the market and candidate behaviour.

What does this mean for Talent Managers?

• Applications are still giving you access to the majority of the market

• Not sourcing could still mean you miss out on 16% of candidates who aren’t sending applications

More hires consistently from applications

In our first report, May 23 was the first month in cord history where more hires were initiated through applications than sourcing.

We were unsure at the time if this was a trend we would see continuing, but it’s clear from the months since that this is persisting, and the number of hires from applications has increased.

In September, 60.5% of hires on cord were initiated by applications, and applications have remained the highest contributor to hires consistently for the last 5 months.

The percentage of hires from applications remains lower than the total applications sent however, with sourcing still contributing to 39% of hires, despite only being responsible for 14.1% of first messages sent. It would suggest the companies are still getting better value and return on their sourcing messages, despite applications being more abundant in the market.

Conclusion

The updated data upholds many of the trends we previously saw, though there are hints of the market shifting, with some data stabilising and others beginning to downturn.

That said, it remains a great market for Talent Managers to make direct hires.

• Application numbers remain high and companies are continuing to be more selective with applications

• Sourcing numbers are low, meaning Talent Managers can easily stand out against competitors by sourcing, and the return you receive is much higher than this time last year

• With more candidates in the market sending applications, you can rely on these to give you a better view of the entire market compared with last year

• Hires are now more likely to be initiated through applications, with 60.5% of the hires in September being due to an application

cord is a Hiring Tool where you can receive applications and send sourcing messages to verified, experienced, active engineers. Our new application workflow is purpose-built for processing a high-volume of applications. To learn more, book in a demo with our team.