Sourcing is the process of searching, identifying, and contacting potential candidates for a job that you are either already recruiting – or will recruit in the future.
One of the reasons Sourcing is so important is because it comes before recruiting, and obviously is as essential as recruiting is, it is somewhat dependent upon your sourcing.
With truly effective sourcing, companies can create deeper pipelines with far more qualified candidates from a vast variety of talent pools. Below we share with you the 7 ways that will help you get more out of your sourcing:
1. Go Beyond LinkedIn
When it comes to sourcing, quantity matters way more than anything else. Yes volume is important, but volume without quality is ineffective, costly, and ultimately a complete waste of time.
LinkedIn helps you access a larger pool of candidates, but limiting yourself to one platform will not be a good idea. Find places where your potential recruits hang out.
If you are looking for JavaScript developers, looking into platforms like GitHub and other programmer communities will help you access a bigger talent pool than just LinkedIn. Do you really want to be fishing in a red ocean?
2. Have a Solid Employer Branding Strategy
Sourcers will be the first touchpoint with your potential recruits. When you start working with a Sourcing Partner, work out an Employer Branding Strategy to ensure that your core values and brand positioning are well-communicated. The talent market is exceptionally competitive and your employer brand is one of your most effective tools to differentiate yourself from your competitors
3. Provide All Necessary Information to Your Sourcing Team
Of course role specific requirements are a must, but it’s also good to ensure your sourcing team isn’t lacking any necessary information about your company and its policies. They are communicating with your potential recruits, and you need to make sure that they have all the information that needs to be provided to ensure that the candidates are properly qualified, as well as sufficiently educated about the opportunity and based on this correct information, actually interested and excited in the opportunity.
4. Let Your Sourcing Partners Establish a Strong Connection with Candidates
The sourcing team should be able to chat with your candidates. Even if they are not the ones assessing the candidates directly, they could still have a chat with them to present/communicate your EVP effectively. This isn’t a must, and many companies will have different ways of approaching this, but equipping your sourcers with the relevant information and empowering them to dialog with interested candidates can help keep candidates engaged and feel valued throughout the hiring process without leaning on only your Talent Partners to maintain candidate interest.
5. Target the Quitters, too
There is a high chance that employees who previously left a company may not have found the grass greener elsewhere. Having a good connection with them and other ‘past candidates’ who joined past companies and left, or maybe even didn’t get hired the last time will give you a great start.
6. Involve Your Sourcing Team in Hiring Decisions
The sourcing team is not just there to create a talent pool of candidates – they are there to build a solid talent pipeline. Hiring decisions such as the location of the potential candidates should include a say from the sourcing team as well.
Including your sourcers in the hiring decisions will give your Sourcers a deeper understanding of the role requirements, but also the sourcers can provide valuable feedback about the quantity of talent available in the market.
7. Be Proactive
Don’t show up to your sourcing team with a role that’s been open for 6 months – instead, have them focused on the positions that will be open in the next 6 months. Bring in more innovation by being proactive with your hiring decisions!
