Spotlight for Recruiting Professionals
In terms of URR budget allocation, the majority of funds were slotted for recruiting trips, office overhead, and internship/co-op programs, according to results of NACE’s 2016 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey.
Recruiting trips—which include the expenses associated with on-campus recruitment, such as recruiter travel and accommodation expenses, cost of equipment rentals, and career fair fees—accounted for 26.4 percent of a URR operation’s total budget.
Also accounting for a quarter of the budget (24.6 percent) was office overhead, which includes salaries and benefits of recruiters (prorated if their time is divided among other HR functions), and expenses associated with recruiter training and professional development.
The final area that accounted for a sizable portion of the overall URR budget was internship/co-op programs (23.7 percent).
The least amount was allotted for company visits (7.3 percent), which includes the expenses for bringing candidates to the organization, including candidates’ travel, lodging, and meal expenses, and the time of line managers, recruiters, and other staff involved.
In last year’s Recruiting Benchmarks Survey report, 20.4 percent of respondents anticipated a budget increase for the 2015-16 fiscal year. Respondents this year exceeded this expectation, with 32 percent planning to increase their total budget. (See Figure 2.)
The areas that saw the greatest increase in budget were the internship/co-op program (29.4 percent) and recruiting trips (28.1 percent). Meanwhile, the majority saw no change since the last fiscal year (45.3 percent) and more than half of respondents anticipated no change in their recruiting budget for 2016-17. (See Figure 3.)
NACE’s 2016 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey was conducted from May 24, 2016, to August 31, 2016, among NACE employer members; 233, or 24.6 percent, responded. The 2016 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey is available at http://www.naceweb.org/surveys/college-recruiting.aspx or through the MyNACE area at http://www.naceweb.org/researchreports.aspx.
Figure 1: Allocation of annual URR budget
| Budget Area |
Mean |
Percentile 25 |
Median |
Percentile 75 |
| Office overhead |
24.6% |
10.0% |
20.0% |
35.0% |
| Pre-recruiting activities |
9.0% |
5.0% |
5.0% |
10.0% |
| Recruiting trips |
26.4% |
10.0% |
20.0% |
40.0% |
| Company visits |
7.3% |
0.0% |
5.0% |
10.0% |
| Internship/co-op program |
23.7% |
10.0% |
15.0% |
36.3% |
| Hiring and relocation |
11.7% |
0.0% |
5.0% |
16.3% |
| Advertising |
9.4% |
3.0% |
6.0% |
15.0% |
Source: 2016 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey, National Association of Colleges and Employers
Figure 2: Changes in recruiting budget from 2014-15 fiscal year
| Budget Area |
Decrease 10%+ |
Decrease 5-10% |
Decrease 5% |
No Change |
Increase 5% |
Increase 5-10% |
Increase 10%+ |
| Total budget |
6.7% |
2.7% |
13.3% |
45.3% |
17.3% |
8.0% |
6.7% |
| Office overhead |
2.6% |
2.6% |
3.9% |
63.2% |
19.7% |
1.3% |
6.6% |
| Pre-recruiting activities |
2.6% |
1.3% |
6.6% |
61.8% |
22.4% |
3.9% |
1.3% |
| Recruiting trips |
5.1% |
5.1% |
9.0% |
52.6% |
19.2% |
3.8% |
5.1% |
| Company visits |
5.3% |
2.7% |
5.3% |
68.0% |
12.0% |
5.3% |
1.3% |
| Internship co-op program |
7.7% |
3.8% |
3.8% |
55.1% |
14.1% |
11.5% |
3.8% |
| Hiring relocation |
2.7% |
1.3% |
9.3% |
68.0% |
14.7% |
4.0% |
0.0% |
| Advertising |
5.3% |
1.3% |
8.0% |
72.0% |
10.7% |
2.7% |
0.0% |
Source: 2016 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey, National Association of Colleges and Employers
Figure 3: Expected changes in recruiting budget for 2016-17 fiscal year
| Budget Area |
Decrease 10%+ |
Decrease 5-10% |
Decrease 5% |
No Change |
Increase 5% |
Increase 5-10% |
Increase 10%+ |
| Total budget |
3.8% |
5.0% |
8.8% |
51.3% |
18.8% |
8.8% |
3.8% |
| Office overhead |
1.3% |
3.8% |
9.0% |
65.4% |
10.3% |
7.7% |
2.6% |
| Pre-recruiting activities |
3.8% |
3.8% |
7.6% |
58.2% |
13.9% |
11.4% |
1.3% |
| Recruiting trips |
5.1% |
6.4% |
12.8% |
48.7% |
12.8% |
10.3% |
3.8% |
| Company visits |
2.6% |
5.1% |
7.7% |
62.8% |
15.4% |
3.8% |
2.6% |
| Internship co-op program |
2.5% |
1.3% |
7.6% |
64.6% |
11.4% |
7.6% |
5.1% |
| Hiring relocation |
2.6% |
1.3% |
7.8% |
70.1% |
10.4% |
6.5% |
1.3% |
| Advertising |
1.3% |
3.8% |
10.1% |
64.6% |
10.1% |
6.3% |
3.8% |
Source: 2016 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey, National Association of Colleges and Employers