QR codes for recruiters

The codes that earn their place

Code	Where	Why
Job-post code	Flyers, campus boards, shop-window ads	From "saw the ad" to "started the application" in one scan
Applicant-portal code	Offer packs, interview letters	Onboarding paperwork begun before day one
Recruiter vCard	Name badges, cards	Candidates leave the stand with a person, not a brochure
Talent-pool sign-up	Fair banners, event handouts	Captures the interested-but-not-now candidate

Measurement is the entire point

The recruiting-specific win is attribution. Print the same role with a different tagged URL per location

https://jobs.example/graduate-engineer?utm_source=qr&utm_medium=print&utm_campaign=leeds-fair
https://jobs.example/graduate-engineer?utm_source=qr&utm_medium=print&utm_campaign=campus-board-b

And your analytics answers the question every recruiting budget argues about: which campus, board or fair actually produced applications. UTM parameters cost nothing, and a season's worth of per-venue codes is one spreadsheet and one bulk generation run. A single untagged careers-page code everywhere measures nothing and lands candidates on a search box instead of the role.

Career-fair sizing

• Banner or backdrop: read from 2–3 m across a crowded aisle, so the 10:1 rule wants 20–30 cm of code on the banner, placed at standing eye height, not in the bottom corner behind the table.
• A4/A3 flyers and boards: 2–3 cm for in-hand reading; the poster sizing page covers wall-mounted cases.
• Badges: 2 cm minimum; candidates scan at arm's length mid-conversation.

Keep a second route open

A QR code must never be the only way to apply. Candidates using screen readers, older phones or a printout of the ad need a typed route, so print the short URL under every code. It doubles as the trust check: a labelled destination gets scanned more readily than a bare code stapled to a lamppost.

What goes wrong

• One generic careers code reused all season, so no venue can be compared with any other.
• A code that opens a 40-field application form; on a phone at a fair, that is an abandonment machine. Land on the role summary with an "email me this link" option.
• Banner codes placed below waist height, unscannable across a table.

FAQ

What should a job advert QR code link to?

The specific role's page with UTM parameters identifying the location, never the careers homepage. The candidate decided to act on this role; every navigation step between scan and application sheds applicants.

How do recruiters track which QR code placements work?

Tag each printed location with its own UTM campaign value on the same role URL, then compare applications per source in analytics. Generating a code per venue is a bulk job from one spreadsheet, and it turns print spend into comparable numbers.

What size QR code for a career-fair banner?

20–30 cm, for scanning from 2–3 m across an aisle, mounted at eye height. Badge codes need 2 cm for arm's-length scans, and flyers 2–3 cm. Undersized banner codes are the most common fair mistake: people will not step around a table to scan.