Setting Up Google Analytics 4 on Your Career Site
Understanding how candidates interact with your career site is crucial for optimizing your recruitment strategy and improving the candidate experience. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to get GA4 up and running effectively.
What is Google Analytics 4 and why do you need it?
Google Analytics 4 is Google's latest analytics platform that helps you understand how visitors use your career site. Unlike the older Universal Analytics (which stopped collecting data in July 2023), GA4 is built for today's privacy-focused digital world and gives you deeper insights into candidate behavior.
With GA4 on your career site, you'll be able to see:
Which job posts attract the most interest
Where candidates drop off in your application process
How candidates find your jobs (social media, job boards, direct search)
Which locations and job types are most popular at your organization
How well your recruitment campaigns are performing
How to install Google Analytics 4 (GA4) on Pinpoint
When it comes to implementing GA4 on your Pinpoint career site, you have two main approaches.
Option 1: GA4 via Google Tag Manager (Recommended)
Google Tag Manager (GTM) acts as a central hub for all your tracking codes. This is our recommended approach because it:
Works seamlessly with Pinpoint's technical architecture
A pre-built GTM container import template has been prepared to help streamline customization
Lets you make changes without involving developers
Provides better data accuracy
Makes it easier to add other tracking tools later (like LinkedIn or Facebook pixels, also included in the Pinpoint GTM container)
Includes built-in testing and debugging tools
Option 2: Direct GA4 implementation (Not recommended)
This involves adding GA4 tracking code directly to your site. While simpler on the surface, this approach has significant limitations and makes future changes difficult.
Important: If you intend to follow our recommended implementation method via GTM, please also review our “Advanced GA4 and Google Tag Manager Technical Configuration” guide alongside the instructions contained in this guide.
Step-by-step guide to setting up GA4 and GTM for Pinpoint
Step 1: Set up your Google Analytics 4 property
Go to Google Analytics at analytics.google.com
Create a new property in the Admin section
Enter your details:
Property name: Something descriptive like "YourCompany Career Site"
Select your time zone and currency
Choose "Web" as your platform
Set up your web stream:
Enter your Pinpoint career site URL
Give it a clear name like "YourCompany Pinpoint Career Site"
Keep "Enhanced measurement" enabled
Once you've completed this, you'll get a Measurement ID that looks like "G-XXXXXXXXXX". Keep this handy—you'll need it for the next steps.
<!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-XXXXXXXXXX"></script>
<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
gtag('js', new Date());
gtag('config', 'G-XXXXXXXXXX');
</script>
Step 2: Set up Google Tag Manager
Go to Google Tag Manager at tagmanager.google.com
Create a new account and container:
Account name: Your company name
Container name: Something clear like "Pinpoint Career Site GTM"
Target platform: Web
Accept the terms and you'll see two code snippets that include your GTM container ID (e.g., "GTM-XXXXXXXX"). Keep this handy.
<!-- Google Tag Manager -->
<script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':
new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],
j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src=
'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);
})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-XXXXXXXX');</script>
<!-- End Google Tag Manager -->
Important: These code snippets can only be installed by your Customer Success Manager (CSM) at this time.
Step 3: Get help from your CSM
Your Pinpoint CSM will handle the technical installation and provide pre-configured settings that work with Pinpoint's system.
What to send your CSM:
Your GA4 Measurement ID (from Step 1), or
Your GTM container ID (from Step 2)
What your CSM will do:
Install the snippet on your career site safely
Share a pre-configured GTM Container Template with you
Configure tracking to work with Pinpoint's dynamic page loading
Why you need your CSM's help:
Pinpoint career sites use a technology called Turbolinks that makes pages load faster by updating content dynamically. Without proper configuration, analytics setups can miss important data. Your CSM ensures everything is tracked accurately.
Step 4: Configure your GA4 settings
While your CSM handles the technical setup, you can optimize your GA4 property:
Data retention settings:
Go to Admin > Data Settings > Data Retention
Change the retention period to 14 months (the maximum)
Filter out internal traffic:
Go to Admin > Data Streams > Configure tag settings
Set up internal traffic filters to exclude your team's activity
Ensure Enhanced measurement is enabled:
GA4 will automatically track important events such as:
Page views
Form interactions
Scroll depth
File downloads
If you follow Option 2 (direct GA4 implementation), we recommend leaving Enhanced measurement fully enabled. For GTM setups, adjust settings:
Turn off "Page changes based on browser history events"
Turn off "Form interactions"
Keep other options on as needed (scrolls, outbound clicks, site search, video engagement, file downloads)
Step 5: Test your setup
Check real-time data: Go to your GA4 property and look at the Real-time report. Browse your career site—you should see your activity appear.
Test key actions: View job posts, start an application, and submit a form. These should appear as events in GA4.
Verify page tracking: Ensure different pages on your career site are being tracked correctly.
Advanced GA4 and GTM configuration guide
This guide covers the essential setup for GA4 on your Pinpoint career site. For advanced configurations, please read our “Advanced GA4 and Google Tag Manager Technical Configuration” guide or contact your Customer Success Manager.