Recruitment Sourcing: What Is It and Where To Find Candidates?
Sourced candidates account for 24-33% of all hires, the second most common after direct applicants. With a little out-of-the box thinking, there are numerous places to search for qualified, diverse, passive candidates to fill a position.
What is Sourcing?
Sourcing is the practice of marketing positions to active job seekers, and proactively identifying passive candidates for open positions. Sourcers, the individuals who perform sourcing duties, are professionals who work alongside recruiters to compile a group of qualified prospective candidates for the roles they are searching. Sourcing plays a large part in the recruitment process. Before being able to fill open positions, you must first source and identify who you want to target. Sourcing proactively looks for passive qualified candidates through various techniques. The goal of sourcing is to create a qualified, talented pipeline for recruiters to call and connect with.
Active vs. Passive Candidates
Active candidates are those who are actively seeking new employment. These are applied candidates.
Passive candidates are those who are not actively seeking new employment. Based off qualifications and requirements set, they might have matching qualifications that a Sourcer identifies through their social media profiles, databases, or other research.
Where to start looking for candidates?
Below is a (non-exhaustive list) of where to find candidates.
Social Media
Facebook and LinkedIn are two great places to source candidates. LinkedIn can be a great networking resource to connect with high-quality candidates. Facebook can be a great place to join specialized groups where you can post active jobs and source from group members.
Job Boards
Platforms like CareerBuilder, Indeed, ZipRecruiter are job boards that allow you to post and source candidates.
Networking/Referrals
Finding a job or candidates more and more often relies on who you know, for the employer and a potential candidate. Networking is getting increasingly more crucial to the recruiting process. Go to local events, fundraisers or job fairs and just meet new people. Who knows, the person you talked to could become your next employee.
Job fairs
Job fairs are a great way to spread the word about your company and open positions at one time. Bonus: most job fairs will send over an event roster. You can utilize that to connect with interested candidates.
ATS Databases
Use your ATS as a database. This is a quick way to search for candidates you already have contact information for or connected with at some point.
Handshake
Handshake allows you to post internship and job opportunities to colleges. This is a great tool to utilize for entry-level roles where college students are the best candidates.
Databases
Databases are a great place to look for candidates with licensure requirements such as RN, LPN, P.E. and more. Through a quick google search, you can typically find state licensure databases to help your search.
At Skywalk Group, we have a dedicated team of Sourcers to help build quality pipelines for Recruiters. To learn more about our recruiting and sourcing efforts, contact us today.
By: Sami Sandecki