This current job market is all about the candidates. That’s because there is a severe shortage of qualified ones in many industries. Employers want them. Recruiters want them. Everybody wants them. But how can you find them? This is where a refined and creative recruitment sourcing strategy comes in handy.
The importance of a talent sourcing strategy
The first step in the recruitment process is talent sourcing. After all, you can’t recruit job candidates if you don’t know who those candidates are. And that’s just one reason why a recruitment sourcing strategy is critical.
Another reason is that the best job candidates are usually passive ones. This means they’re not actively seeking a new position. As a result, they’re not cruising around the Internet browsing through online job advertisements.
And since they’re not looking at online job advertisements, you have to find them yourself. The best way to accomplish this is through the creation of a recruitment sourcing strategy.
However, before we go much further, a definition is in order.
What is a recruitment sourcing strategy?
A recruitment sourcing strategy is a strategy by which viable candidates are identified by organizations with a hiring need or by the executive recruiters or search consultants who have been hired by those organizations. This strategy is composed of multiple candidate sourcing techniques for recruiters, which are typically used in combination to maximize results.
Basically, there are a variety of recruitment sourcing methods. The way in which these methods are used depends upon a wide array of factors, some of which include:
- The types of candidates needed
- The preferences of the hiring authorities or recruiters
- Past success (or lack of success) using the method
- The resources at the disposal of the person (or people) utilizing the recruitment sourcing strategy
- The personnel available to utilize the strategy
And the list goes on and on. The point is this: an overriding talent sourcing strategy is comprised of individual candidate sourcing techniques.
The way in which the overriding strategy is composed depends at least in part on the factors listed above.
The best candidate sourcing techniques for recruiters
Okay, so now that we know what a recruitment sourcing strategy is and how it’s comprised of multiple candidate sourcing techniques, what are some of those techniques?
Below are six of the best candidate sourcing techniques for recruiters:
#1—Sourcing candidates through a recruiting database
Of course, many hiring authorities and recruiters (both in-house and third-party) maintain their own recruiting database of candidates. When these hiring authorities and recruiters have a job order, they automatically check their own database first as a way of sourcing candidates.
Of course, the better your recruiting applicant tracking system is, the more quickly you’ll find the candidates you need.
#2—Sourcing candidates through social media
LinkedIn has become “all the rage” during the past several years. Countless companies and recruiters have added it to their talent sourcing strategy. They “camp out” within the social media platform on an almost daily basis. Their goal is to source high-quality candidates and then recruit them.
While it’s true that they also use other social media platforms for sourcing, LinkedIn is definitely the most effective and most popular method of sourcing candidates through social media.
#3—Sourcing candidates through online job postings
It seems like almost everybody does this, right? Well, while just about every employer does it, not all recruiters do. There is still a contingent of search consultants that refuse to add job posting boards and job board integration to their candidate sourcing methods.
One reason is that online job postings usually attract active job seekers, but aren’t great passive recruiting strategies. The latter are usually top performers at their current employer, are busy and compensated well, and aren’t even looking at online job postings.
So do job boards really work? The effectiveness of this candidate sourcing method depends upon who you ask.
In addition to searching candidates that have applied to job board postings, try a Google resume search. Many people, especially in the tech space, will have their own websites that frequently host an updated copy of their resume.
#4—Sourcing candidates via referrals
Now this is one of the old-school candidate sourcing strategies for recruiters that never actually gets old. That’s because it’s so darn effective. Organizations have official employee referral programs whereby employees are paid a referral bonus if they refer a candidate who is actually hired.
Talent acquisition professionals also employ such recruitment sourcing methods. Offering a referral fee to candidates who suggest friends or colleagues that are later placed successfully is a very viable technique.
The best place to find more candidates like the one you just placed is to ask that individual who they know.
#5—Sourcing candidates from within the organization
This is a talent sourcing strategy that organizations often employ, especially if they’re heavy into succession planning. Of course, with this method, the organization does not need the services of a third-party recruiter. That’s because the talent is right there within the company. However, the talent still needs to be convinced to make a move, even though it’s within their current employer.
#6—Sourcing candidates through a recruiter network
We are currently in the midst of a “candidates’ market.”
That means candidates have the leverage in the marketplace. It also means the really good candidates are interviewing with more than one company, they’re often receiving multiple offers of employment, and they have plenty of options from which to choose.
On the other hand, we have hiring managers and authorities who never seem to find the candidate they want. A recruiting network can provide a solution, since the recruiters within the network share candidates and job orders.
‘Latest and Greatest’ candidate sourcing strategies
Of course, as any recruiter knows, you sometimes have to get creative when attempting to source the right candidates.
The Internet provides many opportunities for recruiters to be creative. The problem is that not many recruiters know that these creative sourcing strategies exist.
That’s why Top Echelon Software has called upon some of the best sourcers and trainers in the industry to show recruiters how to source in a creative fashion. One of those trainers is Shally Steckerl of The Sourcing Institute.
Shally has presented numerous training webinars as part of the Top Echelon Recruiter Coaching Series. One of his presentations is titled, “The Latest and Greatest Sourcing Strategies for Recruiters.”
When it comes to sourcing candidates—especially A-level, passive candidates that your clients want to hire—you need every weapon possible in your arsenal. You might just find a talent sourcing strategy example that will work perfectly for you.
Creative sourcing strategies: different, but effective
No two snowflakes are exactly alike. No two recruitment sourcing methods are exactly alike, either. That’s because they’re comprised of a combination of whatever candidate sourcing techniques and strategies that the organization or search consultant choose to use.
Some companies rely heavily on third-party recruiters, while others do not.
Some rely heavily on online job posting, while others take a more measured approach.
In addition, some companies and recruiters use social media a ton, while others only turn to social media in certain situations. It’s a good bet that most organizations and recruiters use some sort of referral program, though.
It all comes down to which ways of sourcing candidates hiring managers and recruiters prefer to use, to what extent they use them, and in what capacity. The recruitment sourcing methods and candidate sourcing techniques for recruiters they choose to use ultimately comprise their overall recruitment sourcing strategy.
And a talent sourcing strategy is only as good as the last employee who was hired . . . or the last candidate who was placed.
That’s why a recruitment sourcing strategy should constantly evolve to maximize the effectiveness of the sourcing (and hiring) process.
Create a recruitment sourcing strategy with your ATS
Top Echelon’s recruiting software offers numerous sourcing tools for finding the best candidates. We designed these tools to help recruiters find top talent quickly. That’s because when it comes to recruiting and hiring, time is of the essence. If you move too slowly, you could lose out.
That’s why Top Echelon’s applicant tracking software has:
- Job posting capabilities
- A Careers Page for attracting top talent to opportunities
- Social media integration for increasing your recruiting reach
- One-click importing for effortless candidate sourcing and harvesting
But don’t take our word for it! See for yourself what Top Echelon’s ATS software can do for your organization. You can request a recruiting software demo or get free recruitment software for 15 days as part of your trial.
Top Echelon Software can help you create and execute your talent sourcing strategy for finding top talent and the best candidates. Find out how by contacting us today!
