Sourcing Channel Effectiveness Calculator
Not All Applicant Sources Are Worth the Same
Two sourcing channels can send in a similar volume of applicants and produce wildly different numbers of actual hires. Effectiveness — what share of a channel's applicants actually convert to a hire — is the number that separates a channel worth investing more in from one that's mostly adding noise to the pipeline.
The Formula
Sourcing Channel Effectiveness = (Hires from Channel / Applicants from Channel) × 100
When a channel cost is supplied, the calculator also derives a channel-specific cost per hire, letting effectiveness and cost be weighed together.
Where This Is Useful
- Budget allocation — shift sourcing spend toward channels with a higher hire rate rather than simply the highest applicant volume.
- Vendor evaluation — job boards and agencies can be compared on the same effectiveness basis regardless of how many applicants each one sends.
- Quality-of-source diagnosis — a channel with high applicant volume but low effectiveness often signals a mismatch between the channel's audience and the role's requirements.
Worked Example
A channel that sent 200 applicants, produced 12 hires, and cost $6,000 to run:
| Applicants from channel | Hires from channel | Effectiveness | Channel cost | Cost per hire (channel) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 | 12 | 6% | $6,000.00 | $500.00 |
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter Applicants from Channel — total applicants that channel produced.
- Enter Hires from Channel — how many of those applicants were hired.
- Optionally enter Channel Cost to also get a channel-specific cost per hire.
- Select Calculate to see channel effectiveness and, if cost was entered, cost per hire for that channel.
Related Calculations
Compare this against your overall Cost Per Hire Calculator figure, or see how channel applicants move through the rest of the funnel with the Candidate Pipeline Calculator.