Date: December 27, 2024

A lot has changed in the world of hiring over the past 20 years. With a flair for diverse job choices and career paths, Gen Z and Millennials are waltzing into the workforce as the dominant candidates. So, companies need to adapt their recruitment strategies to catch the eye of this dominant workforce demographic today. 

Most companies focus on interviewing and hiring, but the real work happens earlier—finding qualified candidates before you need them. This sums up the scope of what we call “talent sourcing”. When done well, this preparation leads to better hires and faster placements.

There are other elements, however, that make this tough. Talent sourcers and recruiters often come across applicants who misinterpret job criteria or face strong competition from other companies. Besides, they might find it difficult to create a candidate pool while managing their everyday obligations. What does a talent sourcer do against this backdrop? The answer lies in designing a smart and effective talent sourcing strategy.

 

Designing a Strong Talent Strategy

A good talent sourcing strategy also accounts for future retention, by sourcing candidates that align with organizational values. In fact, 62% of HR professionals rank talent retention in their top three priorities, and 85% of them rank it in the top ten. This proves that a good sourcing plan should have a greater impact than just finding great candidates. It must also focus on retaining them over time.

So, how do recruiters find candidates that fit the role perfectly but also grow with the organization? The following strategies will help you build reliable ways to find qualified candidates, even in a competitive market. We’ll explore practical methods that work in real hiring situations, focusing on approaches that save time while improving your candidate quality.

 

Separate Sourcing from Recruiting 

Large teams benefit from splitting these roles: sourcers find and screen candidates while recruiters guide them through hiring. Therefore, make sure there are clear procedural rules in place to handle both for smaller teams. This categorization allows each expert to play to their strengths.

 

Look Ahead and Think Long-Term

First, encourage your organisation’s staff and teams to actively anticipate future recruiting requirements. Sourcing suitable individuals early allows you to predict future opportunities and prepare before urgent recruiting requirements materialize.

This makes sure that you’re ready with candidates who align with your company’s culture and long-term goals. It also saves time by avoiding last-minute, high-pressure searches.

 

Build Your Employer Brand

Attracting top talent begins with building a strong, authentic employer brand for potential employees, and not just customers. Just as you market your company to customers, you need to position your organization as an attractive and beneficial place to work. Millennials and Gen Z, for instance, tend to gravitate toward companies they feel a connection with.  The mission and values of the company really matter here. Getting a hold of this art is one of the secrets of how to be a good talent sourcer.

Share your company values, culture, and employee stories to create that connection. Highlight what makes your company unique through content such as recruitment videos or employee testimonials. A solid employer brand helps you stand out and draws in candidates who resonate with your company’s mission and values.

 

Build Clear Candidate Profiles 

Take time upfront to outline exactly who you’re looking for. Work with hiring managers to understand role requirements thoroughly, including whether they’ll consider candidates ready to step up from junior positions.

Such a degree of clarity saves time and improves match quality. Experts state that as per studies, 42% of employers struggle to find suitable talent. So, thorough preparation is even more valuable.

 

Expand Your Search Criteria

Don’t limit your search to basic terms. It is best to broaden your search parameters to include different job titles and keywords. Many companies use varying titles for similar roles. So, adjusting your search language helps you find candidates that a general search exercise might otherwise miss.

A wider search increases your chances of finding the best talent, even if they’re hidden behind uncommon job titles. A broader search also helps in planning how to source diverse talent effectively.

 

Look Within Your Network and Create a Structured Database  

Building a “sourcing pipeline” begins here. Start with candidates who previously impressed but weren’t selected. These connections are valuable since they already know your organization and have been vetted.

Moreover, you can rest assured that they are aware of your company’s values and goals, and are interested in working with you. Candidates who have previously interacted with your company are 4 times more likely to respond to outreach. This makes it even more important to keep your pipeline updated.

You can also use your applicant tracking system or candidate management software to organize past applicants’ information. This database then becomes your first stop when new positions open. Logging candidates immediately in your CRM or candidate management tool ensures you can easily tap into a ready pool of talent when needed.

 

Explore Social Media and Niche Communities or Forums

A 2023 poll of recruitment, talent acquisition, and employer branding experts in Europe found that 98% use social media for both recruitment and employer branding. Furthermore, 65% have specialized social media platforms only for achieving these goals.

The figures above show how widely the industry recognizes the value social media brings to the hiring process. For example, LinkedIn is excellent for engaging with professionals and passive candidates. Indeed offers a rich database of resumes. Additionally, Twitter or X is ideal for networking and participating in industry discussions, while Slack allows you to join communities focused on your industry or hiring needs.

Moreover, it might be helpful to look beyond conventional job markets. Look at specialized sites where your target candidates are most active.

For instance, Media and Contena are excellent choices if you are looking for writers. They can help you locate active content creating professional writers and bloggers. For developers, GitHub is a wonderful site for connecting with talented people who are sharing their work.

So, make sure you find and join in the right online communities. After all, what is sourcing in talent acquisition if it does not include reaching out to highly talented people who are otherwise invisible on conventional job boards?

 

Use Boolean Searches to Refine Your Candidate Search

Boolean search strategies may help you find the right candidates fast. Using operators such as AND, OR, and NOT helps you to focus on certain abilities, job titles, or experiences while filtering out unnecessary results.

For example, a search for “Marketing AND (SEO OR SEM) NOT Manager” will lead you to experts with SEO or SEM competence but not those in management positions. Boolean approaches may help you create a more precise search. They may help you locate top-tier applicants quicker.

 

Establish Strong Connections with Colleges and Universities

Close linkages to colleges and universities assist to ensure a constant flow of new ideas. It’s a great idea to meet exceptional young individuals before they graduate. To do so, get in touch with programme instructors, student clubs, and career centers.

It would be perfect to get your business more visible on campus. By means of internships, job fairs, or project collaboration with students, you may also help them to better understand your work culture.

 

Define and Track Talent Sourcing Metrics Consistently 

Defining certain benchmarks helps talent sourcers tremendously to monitor development. Making your recruitment strategy better calls for monitoring of sourcing information. It sharpens the effectiveness and force of your recruiting process. Among the markers of talent sourcing are

• Time to Fill: From submitting a job request to selecting a candidate, how long does it take? This contributes to determining the efficiency of the sourcing process.
• Source of Hire: Keeps track of where the applicant came from (job boards, referrals, social media, and more). This helps to determine which sourcing routes are the most successful.
• Candidate Engagement Rate: Measures the proportion of candidates who react to outreach. High involvement might reflect the success of message and sourcing methods.
• Cost per Hire: Calculates the expenses involved with sourcing and recruiting applicants. This contributes to determining the return on investment for sourcing activities.
• Sourcing Funnel Metrics: Tracks applicant conversion rates at each level of the funnel (for example, first contact, interview, or offer). This helps detect bottlenecks in the sourcing process.

Candidate input: Gathering input from applicants about their experiences throughout the sourcing and recruitment process might help identify areas for improvement.

 

Encourage Employee Referrals

Employee referrals are one of the most effective ways to find high-quality candidates. Employees are often able to recommend individuals who fit the company culture and have the necessary skills.

Create an employee referral program that rewards those who refer successful candidates. Referred candidates tend to stay longer and integrate faster. This helps reduce hiring time and improves retention as well.

 

Consider the Power of AI and Other Tools

A close look at the hiring trends reflect how AI software is changing talent sourcing. Generative AI can significantly boost productivity by automating time-consuming tasks like writing job descriptions. While only 27% of talent professionals are currently using AI, 62% are optimistic about its potential.

As its adoption grows, AI can be a resource for finding candidates, personalizing outreach, and matching internal talent to open roles, thus freeing up talent sourcers to focus on more meaningful work.

In addition to AI, what are the best sourcing tools for recruiters and talent sourcers? These include LinkedIn Recruiter, which offers access to a vast professional network, and SeekOut, known for its AI-powered candidate search capabilities.

Other effective tools like Hiretual and AmazingHiring help recruiters find specialized talent across multiple platforms and databases. It’s a good idea to continue exploring options to find tools and software that offer the features you desire in your talent sourcing process.

 

To Sum Up

A strong talent sourcing strategy is at the core of successful hiring and retention of talent. The first step, as you are aware, is to understand what is sourcing in recruiting processes and hiring. From here on, it’s important to make the most of each stage of the talent sourcing workflow. Don’t forget to concentrate on improving operations through experience!

Whether you’re engaging with colleges or improving your search process with new methodologies, the aim is to ensure that you have the finest prospects available when you need them.

Keep things simple, keep organized, and change your technique as you go—hiring will become much simpler.