More than 70% of UK Higher Education (HE) institutions do not measure their recruitment, and 48% do not measure the effectiveness of their recruitment advertising, according to a report from jobs.ac.uk.

It found that without an investment in IT infrastructure, staff training and a change in attitude, HE institutions will be unable to enjoy the significant savings offered by e-recruitment.

It warned that while 68% of institutions surveyed are using some e-recruitment methods, the sector is lacking a long-term strategic view of recruitment both on and offline. 

Andrew Gordon, director at jobs.ac.uk, says: “The sector needs to keep up with new recruitment techniques used in the commercial world or risk missing out on the best candidates. HE institutions must secure the best staff in order to attract students from the UK and from abroad.

“E-recruitment and online advertising are useful tools to improve efficiencies. We do not recommend using online recruitment advertising methods in isolation, but rather as part of an overall, targeted recruitment strategy that can be measured for its effectiveness. One straightforward thing each institution could do is to start measuring the effectiveness of its advertising. This can simply be done by asking candidates where they saw the job advert and then only advertising in those media that actually attract candidates.”