5 Candidate Sourcing Strategies to Find Top Talent

Sourcing, what does this term mean to you? To many, it is just an alternative term for recruitment. But this is not right. Sourcing candidates is in fact the first step in recruitment or because it involves the search before the active stages of recruitment begin, it is sometimes considered as a separate process.

What Is Sourcing in Recruitment

Let us now define what we mean by sourcing candidates in recruitment. In this article, we will be detailing the steps in candidate sourcing and some strategies you can use when you are sourcing too.

Types of Sourcing in Recruitment

1. Direct sourcing: A company attracts candidates directly to them.
2. Indirect sourcing: A third party plays the role of a sourcing specialist.
3. Inbound sourcing: A positive brand reputation helps companies attract candidates directly to their website or social media pages.
4. Creative sourcing: A development of creative ideas for the purpose of sourcing.

How to Source Candidates?

1. Attract candidates on social media

The right places in a social media like LinkedIn can prove to be a confluence where great minds interact. Examples are LinkedIn groups or reinitiating older conversations you may have had with candidates who may now be eligible.

2. Leverage talent sourcing tools

Candidate sourcing tools like those from the likes of Workday can simplify the process of sourcing to a great extent and pick from a pool of passive candidates to bring to the screening stages of recruitment.

3. Use AI to mine through a talent database

Mining through a talent database, especially to people who have registered for job alerts from you at some point in their careers could be a great way to get down to talent that could add value to your organization.

4. Incorporate other unique channels for sourcing

When sourcing, don’t restrict yourself to just the above methods. You can consider other unique channels for sourcing candidates too, especially if you are not only looking for passive candidates. You can contact passive candidates by email too.

What are Some Sourcing Techniques/Strategies?

There are several sourcing strategies in recruitment, some of which you may already be aware of. Let us look at them in more detail now. Here are five of them.

1. Employee referrals could help you pick the best

A candidate referred by an existing employee could be the titan you need. Once on board, they could be a lasting resource you could trust as much as your employee and turn to for the most challenging of tasks. And don’t forget to reward your employees well for their referrals that helped you as you did candidate sourcing.

2. Make your job posting stand out

Before you can attract the right candidates, you must have a great job description. Some tips that could work are keeping it short and simple, relying on a great opener but not getting too creative,

explaining what is required on the job and the benefits very well.

3. Assess internal talent

How good or great is the talent you already have on board? If you are recruiting a fresh person, how well would they complement those already on the team? What are the skills that are missing or in demand from your team? These are some crucial questions to ask before you hire a new person.

4. Build a great talent pipeline

Use AI if you must or if you are convinced that it will bring business gains you cannot achieve otherwise. Source candidates not just for the present roles but also for strategic roles in the future. Plan for any attrition by securing the right candidates to deal with it. In other words, always have a Plan B ready.

5. Network with the domain experts

There is no replacement for a domain expert when sourcing candidates. He/she can give insights into the job role that you would not have otherwise. This is especially true when you are hiring for a small business, and this is a senior position. Keep your prospects close but keep your experts closer.

Are You Looking for a Sourcing Partner?

Are sourcing candidates something you need to do but what you feel you are not very good at. Always better then to outsource to a company who can handle it well and get you to navigate the process of talent acquisition in a much better way. Not just this, but it also saves you a lot of time you can devote to resolving gaps in compliance management or managing your workforce or payroll systems in a better way.

Alp Consulting can help you with candidate sourcing the best out there for any role across multiple industries and we manage the entire recruitment process and take care of payroll and compliance too. When are you talking to your future HR consulting partner? Give us a call today.