Candidate Sourcing 

Candidate sourcing is a critical component of an effective recruitment process. After all, how can we recruit new talent from any empty candidate pool? Sourcing in recruitment specifically refers to the process of proactively seeking out candidates rather than waiting for them to apply for a job posting. The goal here is to create a pool of qualified candidates to tap whenever the need to fill a position arises. 

Maintaining a healthy candidate pool helps recruiters reduce the time-to-hire and ensures a healthy source of talent to choose from. As we mentioned before, this can be achieved in a variety of ways such as online job boards, tapping social media, and employee referrals. What’s more, candidate sourcing is particularly important for tapping passive candidates, valuable talent already employed but open to a new position. These candidates specifically require a strategic approach and an inviting recruitment process. 

This process has been made even easier in recent years thanks to advancements in technology. Recruitment software and applicant tracking systems available today enable recruiters to automate much of the sourcing process such as screening resumes and messaging potential candidates. All of this enables recruiters to cast a wider net and discover talent, even those not actively seeking new roles. 

At the end of the day, candidate sourcing is about identifying and attracting the top talent available - which can be difficult. According to Forbes, top talent is off the labor market in as little as 10 days. That means organizations with slow time-to-hire and inefficient sourcing strategies are just not getting the talent they need to remain competitive. 

Types of Sourcing in Recruitment 

When it comes to sourcing, recruiters have a lot of options available to them. From social media to referrals, the sky is the limit. 

Here are some of the types of sourcing in recruitment that you need to consider. 

• Active Sourcing - Active sourcing is typically what we think of when we discuss candidate sourcing. This involves proactively searching for candidates that are actively sourcing for a new position. So, that entails recruiters reaching out to candidates on online job boards, at career fairs, and through targeted advertisements to attract candidates.  
  
  
• Passive Sourcing - Less common, but just as effective, passive sourcing refers to sourcing candidates from the labor market that isn’t actively looking for a new position, but would be open to one. In fact, most of the workforce exists as passive talent.
  
  
• Internal Sourcing - Candidates don’t always need to be sourced from without. Oftentimes, the organization already possesses the talent they need to fill a role. You just need to look for it by examining the qualifications, skills, and experience of your current employees.
  
  
• Referral Sourcing - Again, your current employees are an excellent resource for candidate sourcing. Even if you’re not hiring from within, your employees like already know others that would fit an open position within your organization. It’s only a matter of establishing an employee referral program to encourage them to reach out in their network.  
  
  

Past Candidates - Unless you’re a brand new company, then you most likely have past candidates. These past candidates represent a massive opportunity that often goes overlooked – an entire pool of talent that’s expressed interest in working for your organization in the past. Although they may not have had what you were looking for in the role they applied for, they may very well be perfect for new positions down the line. As such, always tap your past talent for potential new hires.

Candidate Sourcing Process 

The candidate sourcing process is more than just reaching out to a candidate here and there. It’s about developing different sourcing strategies to optimize your recruitment efforts. Although this process differs for each organization, it is principally the same. 

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The candidate sourcing process begins by recognizing the need for a new hire. A skills gap analysis will help you understand what specific skills and experience your organization needs today or even in the future. This can help recruiters find the perfect candidate. When recruiters work with stakeholders to develop a comprehensive understanding of the role, they can develop a candidate profile to work from.

Then comes the time for the candidate sourcing strategy. Based on the information gathered from your skills gap analysis, you’ll have an ideal candidate in mind. Use that to outline the channels, platforms, and methods you’ll use to find that candidate. Ideally, use a mixture of both active and passive sourcing techniques to improve your chances. 

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Once candidates begin to apply for the position, they’ll need to be screened. Mind you, this isn’t a formal interview. It’s an interview to separate the qualified from the unqualified. However, this can take a considerable amount of time on its own. Adopt tools to make it easier. Qualifi’s on-demand phone interview platform allows you to engage hundreds of candidates at the click of a button and invite them to an interview where they choose the time. It’s that simple. Plus, that allows recruiters to focus on screening rather than scheduling. 

Candidate Sourcing Tools

The modern recruiter knows that there’s nothing manual about recruitment anymore. There’s a plethora of sourcing platforms for recruiters out there to make sourcing easy, and take the guesswork out of candidate sourcing. It’s only a matter of finding the tools that work for you. 

Professional networking platforms such as LinkedIn, for example, allow recruiters to access a vast network of professionals with advanced search filters and candidate pool management features to make sourcing even easier. This also includes online job boards that offer a wide candidate database and allow recruiters to easily reach hundreds of active job seekers. 

Other candidate sourcing tools include tools that allow recruiters to aggregate candidate social and professional data from across platforms. This makes verifying experience, skills and general background easier than it’s ever been.

Then there’s the matter of application tracking systems. These comprehensive platforms allow recruiters to build remarkably candidate databases and feature strong sourcing capabilities to help recruiters track and engage candidates. 

More candidate sourcing software includes candidate relationship management software. Not to be confused with an ATS, a CRM empowers recruiters to build and nurture long-term relationships with candidates as well as automate many sourcing activities. 

To empower recruiters further, there are many candidate-sourcing platforms that provide all-in-one recruitment solutions These platforms empower recruiters with sourcing solutions, candidate management, role advertising, and even team collaboration tools all in one place. 

Again, it is only a matter of finding the right candidate-sourcing tools that work for you and your organization. Many platforms are designed with a specific company type and size in mind. Take this into consideration when selecting tools for your own company. Leveraging these tools empower recruiters to reach candidates quickly and efficiently, helping them build a strong candidate pipeline. 

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