As a recruiter, your mission is to fill job orders by sourcing candidates for your clients. How do recruiters find candidates? Whatever the case may be, sourcing candidates is the heart of your career.
Sourcing candidates
There are many different outlets you can use to find candidates. Take a look at these tips when it comes to knowing how to source candidates in recruitment:
1. Post job descriptions on online job boards
Sourcing candidates through job portals has the potential to draw in an influx of resumes and/or applications.
According to the Pew Research Center, 79% of job-seeking Americans use online resources to search for a job. With such a high rate of people looking online for jobs, you could end up on the radar of more people.
When you get a job order from your client, they should also give you a well-written and detailed job description. Make sure your client’s job description stands out if you want qualified applicants. Then, post the job description on an online job board to source candidates.
2. Check out social media
With the popularity of social media growing, more and more people use it for professional gain. In fact, 35% of social media users look for jobs on social media.
Using social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest will open doors to candidates who might not be looking for a new job. You can connect with passive candidates, which increases the number of people in your candidate pool. If you only focus on candidates who are actively looking for jobs, you won’t have as much success sourcing candidates.
Networking on social media is fast, simple, and free (unless you pay a fee for advertising). Sourcing candidates on a platform that connects people isn’t farfetched—it’s strategic. If you have a strong presence on social media, you could gain more followers. Interact with candidates, promote a memorable brand, and post frequently.
3. Gather referrals
Referrals are an efficient way to source candidates. One study found that 46% of hires at top performing companies are referrals. Businesses can choose to have employee referral programs as a way to source candidates. If that is the case, gather referrals from within your client’s organization to add to the mix.
Your current pool of candidates might include passive candidates, meaning those who are not actively looking for work. Ask top-notch passive candidates for referrals. Talk to your friends or people in your network who might be able to refer you to people in the industry.
When gathering referrals, talk to people you know who are quality workers. They can lead you to candidates with a similar work ethic.
4. Attend career fairs
As a recruiter, sourcing candidates online and with software can streamline your processes. You can also make face-to-face connections when sourcing candidates.
Attending career fairs has the potential to help you fill open job orders and collect resumes. Set up a booth and tell people about what you do.
You can also attend a career fair for a specific job order and tell candidates about the business you are recruiting for. By networking and interacting with job-seeking individuals, you can expand your pipeline of candidates.
5. Join a recruiting network
By joining a recruiting network, you get access to candidate and job order information. Hundreds of recruiting firms combine information in one database to source candidates and increase placement rates.
In a split placement recruiting network, you work with another recruiter to source candidates. When you get a job order, the other recruiter provides candidates.
With Top Echelon’s MEGA Candidate Database, members of the recruiting network have access to nearly three million candidate resumes.
6. Go to recruiter networking events
Attend recruiter networking events to connect with other recruiters. At these kinds of conventions, you can share job orders and candidates with other recruiters.
Typically, there are also speakers who can provide tips on recruiting best practices and help develop your recruiting sourcing strategies.
7. Examine your existing pool of candidates
One way to source candidates for a particular job order is to look through your existing pool of candidates. Maybe you keep your candidate information in an Excel Spreadsheet. Or, if you have recruiting software, look through your pipeline of candidates to see if there are any who fit the job description.
Recruiting software makes finding the right candidates easier. When you receive a job order from your client, all you need to do is enter keywords into your software, and it will bring up candidates with skills, education, or experience that match the keywords. And, when you receive resumes, your recruiting software will parse them and extract information so you have uniform records for each applicant.
