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Sourcing Candidates

What is candidate sourcing

Candidate sourcing is a recent concept.

The concept originated with the availability of internet and more precisely with the existence of social media websites.

Technology is a great tool for recruiters and hiring managers. Initially, recruiters believed that the popularity of social media websites will turn the process of recruitment into a cakewalk. However, it is not that easy.

You definitely need a strategy to make things work out positively.

Defining Candidate Sourcing

The proactive search of talented and potential hires to fill up all the vacant job openings. Recruiters do following tasks for the purpose of sourcing:

  • They collect all the valuable candidate information related to resumes and work samples.
  • They can pre-screen the skills they are looking in the candidates.
  • They inform candidates about job openings and build a relation with them.
  • They build long term relation with potential recruits and recruiters.

All these tasks are what we do as recruiters in Vested.

Difference between sourcing and recruiting

Sourcing and recruiting are two different but interconnected processes. One kicks in after other. Sourcing is associated with searching, identifying and contacting recruits that have potential to fill in your positions.

It is the first process. Sourcing is followed by recruiting. Recruiting includes HR processes like screening, interviewing and evaluating the candidates.

In MNCs, recruiters handle the first steps and the second process is handled by professional sourcers. However, both sourcing and recruiting fall under the same roof that is HR.

How does sourcing affect recruiting?

Sourcing is a vital part of recruiting strategy of any company. Recruiters specialize in:

  • They basically reduce the fill-in time of candidates because the process of initial screening of candidates has been already done by them.
  • They keep a database of clients engaged in your vacancies so that they can use these pipelines to cover the present and future recruitment.
  • They position themselves in such a way that they can meet the long-term goals of sourcing.

Who are sourcing specialists?

Sourcing specialists, popularly known as sourcers are those HR professionals who excel in identifying and engaging potential candidates for current and future potential needs of the company.

Jobs they perform:

  • They identify the future hiring needs of the company.
  • They participate in establishing the effective sourcing techniques for the company.
  • They reach out to potential candidates through different channels and media.
  • They develop talent pipelines for every position in the company.
  • They keep researching and experimenting on new sourcing technologies and tools.
  • They analyse all the sourcing tools they have used.

Social sourcing:

The process includes using the social media platforms to search for the right talent. The social networks (like Facebook, twitter and Linked In) can be a great help in identifying, attracting and contacting potential candidates.

Sourcers use social media for following purposes: 

  • They use the platform to collect the contact details, resumes and work samples of the applicants.
  • To create their own talent pipelines to fulfill the hiring needs of the company in the future.
  • To reach out to potential qualified candidates and giving them information regarding your job openings.
  • They establish the employer as a brand and advertise the openings.

A few most effective sourcing tools:

Sourcing specialists and recruiters use social media tools to narrow down their search. Tools help recruiters to find candidates quickly. These few tools will help you streamline the process:

  • LinkedIn: This is a social media platform for recruiters. Professionals share their career history and accomplishments on the platform and take it as an opportunity to interact with professional recruiters. Sourcers need a LinkedIn recruiters license to search through profiles and send personal messages to candidates.
  • Glassdoor:  Glassdoor is a platform that gathers user-generated reviews about different companies and company-life. Glassdoor has hugely changed our prospective towards recruitment marketing and company culture. The Google backing makes the platform more authentic and reliable. It has become one of the ultimate job sites for candidate sourcing.
  • Indeed: Indeed is the world’s largest job board that hosts more than 90 million resumes. The advanced search options of the board allow recruiters to search on the basis of job location and title.
  • Facebook: It is the world’s most popular social networking website and an ocean of potential candidates. The paid job ads feature of Facebook candidate sourcing helps you find recruits with ease.
  • Twitter: The different recruiting tools of Twitter like chat, search and lists to ease the process of recruit sourcing. Engaging on twitter conversations advertising conferences and following hash tags can help sourcers build a talent pipeline through twitter.

There are also more traditional, “old-school” ways to source for candidates. Here are a few ideas:

Finally, the best way to save money and time for candidate sourcing is use a professional.

This is where Vested comes in.

We can help improve your time-to-hire metrics and get you the right candidates via our on demand platform.

Learn about it today  HERE and save thousands of dollars on recruiter fees and still get the best talent for your company.

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