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Get Started with Fountain Source

Access Source, add openings to your dashboard, and understand key metrics and status indicators.

Updated this week

Fountain Source is a sourcing management and analytics platform that provides unified visibility across all your job boards and sourcing channels. Source helps you understand where your sourcing dollars are going, which roles are on track or at risk, and when you can safely pause spend because your pipeline is strong enough to hit your hiring goals.

What is Fountain Source?

Fountain Source connects every job, campaign, and budget that starts within Fountain. It provides:

  • Unified tracking across job boards and sourcing campaigns

  • Actionable analytics that reveal which channels drive results

  • Automated budget optimization based on performance

  • Integration with Fountain Hire for seamless workflow

Source is built for high-volume, hourly hiring where speed and clarity matter most. It monitors campaigns continuously and helps you make data-backed decisions in real time.


Access Fountain Source

Source is available in the Fountain navigation menu for accounts that have the feature enabled.

  1. Log in to your Fountain account.

  2. In the left navigation menu, click Source.

  3. You'll see the Source dashboard with three main sections: Dashboard, All Openings, and Settings.


Add Openings to the Source Dashboard

Before you can track sourcing performance, you need to add openings to your Source dashboard. Source pulls openings from Fountain Hire that have hiring goals set.

To add openings to the dashboard:

  1. Go to the Source dashboard.

  2. Click the All Openings tab in the navigation menu.

  3. You'll see a list of all openings from Hire. Use the filters at the top to find specific openings by dashboard status, status, brand, position, or location.

  4. Select the checkboxes next to each opening you want to track.

  5. Click Add selection to dashboard at the bottom of the screen.

The selected openings will appear on your main Source dashboard with metrics like Spend, Hires, CPH, CPA, and status.


Understand the Source Dashboard

The Source dashboard provides a unified view of all your sourcing activity. It shows performance across all tracked openings and helps you identify which roles need attention.

Dashboard Sections

Summary Cards

At the top of the dashboard, you'll see summary cards showing:

  • Openings at risk – Number of openings behind their hiring pace

  • Active sourcing – Number of openings currently running campaigns

Time Period Metrics

Below the summary cards, you can select a time period to view metrics for that range. Metrics include:

  • Spend – Total budget spent across all campaigns

  • Hired – Total number of hires

  • Avg CPH – Average cost per hire

  • Applied – Total number of applicants

  • Avg CPA – Average cost per applicant

Opening List

The main dashboard displays a table of all tracked openings. Each row shows key metrics and information:

  • Opening name

  • Status (On Track, At Risk, Goal Met, Goal Not Met)

  • Hires (current hires / target hires)

  • Duration (days elapsed / total days)

  • Conversion rate

  • Applicants

  • Budget spend

  • CPA (Cost per applicant)

  • CPH (Cost per hire)

  • Channels (icons showing which job boards are active)

  • Sourcing status (Active or Inactive)

  • Brand


Understand Opening Status

Each opening displays a status that indicates whether it's on pace to meet its hiring goal. Source calculates this by comparing actual hires against expected hires based on your hiring goal timeline.

Status Types

Started

The hiring goal is active but there isn't enough data yet to judge performance.

On Track

The opening's hires are pacing well compared to the hiring goal and end date. You're on schedule to meet your target. Hover over the status to see detailed progress. For example: "The number of hires is 8% higher than the expected hires by today. To hit the goal, there should have been 12 hires by today, but there are 13 hires already."

At Risk

The opening is behind the expected pace. Hover over the status to see exactly how far behind you are. For example: "The number of hires is 68% lower than the expected hires by today. To hit the goal, there should have been 25 hires by today, but there are only 8 hires." This means you need to take action to get back on track.

Goal Met

The number of hires has reached the target for the active hiring goal. Source may have already reduced spend through automation.

Goal Not Met

The hiring goal period has ended and the target number of hires was not reached. Hover over the status to see details. For example: "The hiring goal for this opening ended on Jan 27, 2026 without reaching the targeted number of 22 hires. Duration: Dec 28, 2025 to Jan 27, 2026 (30 days)"

How Status is Calculated

Source calculates expected hires by dividing your target hires by the total number of days in your hiring goal, then multiplying by the number of days elapsed.

Example: If your hiring goal is 34 hires in 44 days and 29 days have elapsed, Source expects you to have approximately 22 hires by now (34 ÷ 44 × 29 = 22). If you only have 8 hires, the opening will show "At Risk" status.

Active vs Inactive Status

In addition to goal status (On Track, At Risk, etc.), each opening has a sourcing status that appears in the "Sourcing" column:

  • Active: One or more campaigns are active OR applicants applied in last 24 hours

  • Inactive: No active campaigns AND no applicants in last 24 hours

Hover over the sourcing status indicator to see this definition in a tooltip.

Note that you may sometimes see campaigns labeled "Active" inside an "Inactive" opening. This means those campaigns are enabled but temporarily paused by you or by automation, and no applicants have applied in the last 24 hours.

Understand Blue Bubble Indicators

You may see blue bubbles in the Hires and Budget Spend columns on your dashboard. These bubbles indicate aggregated data, meaning the number shown is a combined total from multiple openings linked within the same hiring workflow.

Hover over a blue bubble to see a breakdown of exactly how many hires or how much spend came from each specific opening. For more information about aggregate data, see the article Understanding Source Metrics and Attribution.


View Opening Details

To see detailed performance for a specific opening:

  1. Click on any opening name in the dashboard table.

  2. The Opening details page displays comprehensive information including:

    • Summary metrics (Applicants, Hires, Budget Spend, CPA, CPH, Avg time to hire)

    • Active hiring goal details (start date, end date, target)

    • Sourcing openings (other openings that contributed applicants)

    • Campaign performance by channel

    • Recommendations for improving performance

Edit Opening Targets

You can set performance targets for each opening to help Source provide accurate recommendations and track progress against your goals.

To edit targets:

  1. On the dashboard, click the three-dot menu () on the right side of any opening row.

  2. Select Edit targets from the dropdown menu.

  3. In the Edit Targets modal, you can configure:

    1. Target conversion rate (%)

      The percentage of applicants you expect to hire. For example, if you enter 3.5%, Source expects 3.5% of all applicants to become hires.

      1. Target applicants

        Source automatically calculates this based on your hiring goal and target conversion rate. This shows how many applicants you need to reach your hiring target.

    2. Target budget ($)

      The total amount you plan to spend on sourcing for this opening during the current hiring goal period.

    3. Target CPA ($)

      The target cost per applicant you want to achieve. Leave this blank if you don't have a specific CPA goal.

  4. Click Save to update your targets.

Source will use these targets to assess campaign performance and provide recommendations. For example, if your actual CPA is higher than your target CPA, Source may recommend adjusting your campaigns.

The target conversion rate directly impacts the target applicant count. If you set a 5% conversion rate and need 10 hires, Source calculates you need approximately 200 applicants (10 ÷ 0.05 = 200).

More Actions Menu

The three-dot menu (⋮) on each opening row provides quick access to common actions:

  • Edit targets – Set performance targets and budgets (described above)

  • View in Hire – Opens the opening in Fountain Hire in a new tab

  • Post Job – Launches the job posting flow to add campaigns to this opening

Filter and Search Openings

Both the main dashboard and the All Openings page provide filters to help you find specific openings:

  • Brand: Filter by company or brand

  • Position: Filter by job title

  • Location: Filter by city or region

  • Status: Filter by goal status (On Track, At Risk, etc.)

  • Dashboard status: Filter by whether openings are added to your dashboard

Use the search bar to quickly find openings by name or keyword.

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