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Source Tracking

See which recruiters, managers, or campaigns are driving your applicants.

Written by Brandi Jacek

Source Tracking lets you create custom tracked links for your career page and individual job ads so you can see exactly which sources are sending you candidates. Each tracked link carries a unique identifier that follows a candidate from click to apply.

What You Can Do

  • Create custom sources: one per recruiter, manager, campaign, or channel.

  • Generate a tracked link: for your career page or a specific job ad.

  • See applies by source: in the Applied Count window, on the candidate's profile, and on the dashboard.

  • See clicks by source: on the new Clicks tab of the dashboard Source widget.

Note: Quick vocabulary: Source = one tracked entry. Source Tracking URL = the link a source generates. Source Code = the short identifier (e.g., GOGJB) embedded in that URL.

Creating a Source

Sources are managed in Career Page Settings.

Step 1. Open Career Page Settings

Navigate to Settings and open Career Page. Scroll down to the Source Tracking section.

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Step 2. Add a Source

Click ‘+ Add Source’ to open the Add/Edit Source modal.

Step 3. Fill in the modal

Complete the required fields, then click ‘Save.’

  • Display Name: An internal label for the source, visible only to your team. (Max 50 characters.)

  • Source Type: The category of source, such as Marketing Campaign or Social Media.

  • Source Code: A short identifier embedded in the tracked link, such as GOGJB. (Max 50 characters.)

  • Campaign: (Optional) Group related sources together under a campaign name.

  • Description: (Optional) Internal notes about the source.

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Step 4. Copy the career page tracking URL (optional)

Once the modal is filled out, the Source Tracking URL for your career page appears at the bottom. Copy and share this link to send candidates to your career page, where they can select a job and apply. To generate a tracked link for a specific job ad instead, see the next section.

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Tracking a Specific Job

To send candidates straight to a job’s apply page, generate the tracked link from the Sponsor/Share job module.

Step 1. Open the job’s Sponsor / Share page

Open the job you want to track and navigate to the Sponsor / Share page. Scroll past the Indeed and ZipRecruiter sections to find the Source Tracking section.

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Step 2. Select a source and copy the link

Select the source from the dropdown. The Source Tracking URL will populate automatically. Copy and share this link — it will take candidates directly to that job’s apply page.

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Reviewing Applies by Source

When a candidate applies through a tracked link, the source display name and source code appear in three places in IdealTraits.

Applied Count Window

Your custom sources appear as line items alongside the standard channels (Indeed, Facebook, etc.), so you can see total applies per source at a glance.

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Candidate Profile

The source name and code are displayed on the candidate’s profile next to their apply date and job ad, for example: JB Google (GOGJB).

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Dashboard Source Widget

The Source widget on your dashboard includes three tabs — Hires, Applies, and Clicks — all filtered by your source list. Switch to the Applies tab to see each source’s share of your total applicants.

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Click Tracking

The Clicks tab on the dashboard Source widget shows how many people clicked each tracked link, whether or not they went on to apply. Use this to measure the reach of each recruiter, campaign, or channel beyond just completed applications.

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Reading the widget

  • Three tabs: Hires, Applies, and Clicks are all filtered by the same source list.

  • Donut chart: Shows each source’s share of total clicks. The legend below ranks sources by percentage.

  • No data yet?: If you haven’t added sources or no clicks have been recorded, the widget will prompt you to visit Manage Sources in Career Page Settings to get started.

If you have any questions or need help setting up Source Tracking, please feel free to reach out — we are here to help.


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