TNS Global Q3 2016 Telephone Survey Methodology


TNS Global Q3 2016 Telephone Survey statistics are based on telephone interviews with 1,769 respondents who had advertised at least one job on either totaljobs or Jobsite in Jan-Jun 2016 in locations across the UK.

Interviews were conducted Jul-Aug 2016 by independent market research agency TNS, co-commissioned by totaljobs and Jobsite. Respondents were asked for their recollection of the response they received from advertising a specific role through various sources*. Respondents who had advertised multiple roles were asked about their most recently advertised role. Only respondents who reported that the recruitment status of the role was either finished or nearly finished were asked the question about whether any candidates had been hired. If requested, respondents were unable to learn who commissioned the research until after giving all of their answers. Any response which was greater than 1.96 times the standard deviation greater than the average response was deemed an outlier and removed from the sample. Only sample sizes of 80 responses or more have been considered.

The findings from this research are presented in two ways:

  1. Headline Results – show the average response given when considering all respondents who reported using a particular advertising source.

  2. Head to Head Comparisons – compare advertising sources to each other one at a time and only consider responses where the respondent reported advertising the exact same job across both sources being compared.

A summary of the headline results of the telephone survey, together with the relevant questions asked of respondents, is shown below.


TNS Global Q3 2016 Telephone Survey – Headline Results Summary

All Respondents
All respondents to the survey
Total Segment Size = 1,769 respondents
Candidate Delivery Candidate Quality Hiring Success
Source type Sources Respondents Reported Using Ave. No. of Applications per Job Advertised No. of Respondents Ave. No. of Interview Invitations Extended per Job Advertised No. of Respondents Ave. No. of Hires Made per Job Advertised No. of Respondents
Online Job Boards Totaljobs 18.6 1151 2.21 1151 0.50 613
Jobsite 16.1 831 1.62 831 0.43 464
Reed 13.3 620 1.48 620 0.27 304
Indeed 11.6 613 1.39 613 0.24 320
CVLibrary 12.7 515 1.49 515 0.24 235
Monster 5.6 270 0.38 270 0.06 135
JobCentre Plus 2.9 223 0.24 223 0.08 110
Jobserve 7.8 125 0.37 125 Low Low
Apprenticeship Low Low Low Low Low Low
Careerbuilder Low Low Low Low Low Low
CWJobs Low Low Low Low Low Low
Gumtree Low Low Low Low Low Low
MyJobs (e.g. mymanchesterjobs) Low Low Low Low Low Low
NIJobs Low Low Low Low Low Low
s1jobs.com Low Low Low Low Low Low
Social Media & Other Online Company website 3.9 1241 0.82 1241 0.24 665
LinkedIn 2.4 631 0.39 631 0.08 340
Facebook 0.7 331 0.19 331 0.03 178
Twitter 0.2 266 0.04 266 0.00 129
Other online sources 7.2 263 1.22 263 0.26 136
Offline Own contacts (prof. or personal) 1.9 730 0.82 730 0.34 378
Internal application 1.1 400 0.66 400 0.21 229
Referral Program 1.0 362 0.58 362 0.12 182
Headhunter / recruitment agency 4.7 167 1.58 167 0.44 105
Newspapers or printed media 2.6 101 0.95 101 Low Low
Other internal source Low Low Low Low Low Low
Campus university contacts Low Low Low Low Low Low
Other external professional Low Low Low Low Low Low
Offline sources, like TV or Radio Low Low Low Low Low Low

Low = sample size below 80


Click here to download the full results set in Microsoft Excel format. The full results set contains additional segments of the data based on various characteristics of either the role or advertiser, plus also contains the head to head comparison results.

* Respondents were asked the following questions:

  1. Through which of the following did you post this specific job?

    • Totaljobs
    • Jobsite
    • Indeed
    • Reed
    • CVLibrary
    • Monster
    • Jobserve
    • Gumtree
    • Careerbuilder
    • CWJobs
    • Apprenticeship
    • NIJobs
    • MyJobs (e.g. myglasgowjobs or mymanchesterjobs)
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Other online source (Please specify)
    • Newspapers / printed media
    • Other offline source like TV or Radio
    • Company website
    • Internal applicant
    • Referral program
    • Your own contacts (professional or personal)
    • Other internal source (Please specify)
    • Head hunter / External Recruitment Company / Recruitment Agency
    • JobCentre Plus
    • Campus / University contacts
    • Other external professional (Please specify)
  2. What is the status of the recruitment process for this function [INSERT FIELD WITH NAME OF JOB]?

  3. For each source identified in Q1:
    How many candidates have APPLIED for [INSERT FIELD WITH NAME OF JOB] via [ANSWER Q1]? If you don’t know the exact number, please give your best estimate.

  4. For each source identified in Q1:
    How many of these [ANSWER Q3] job applicants were INVITED FOR AN INTERVIEW? If you don’t know the exact number, please give your best estimate.

  5. For each source identified in Q1 and if recruitment status is finished or almost finished:
    How many of these [ANSWER Q3] job applicants were HIRED or are ABOUT TO BE HIRED? If you don’t know the exact number, please give your best estimate.