Sourcing is a critical part of a company’s recruitment strategy. According to Lever, on average, one in every 72 sourced candidates is hired versus one in every 152 non-sourced applicants. Proactive sourcing of passive candidates can help reduce time-to-fill, thereby saving on recruitment costs. It can also help build talent pipelines for future hiring needs.
With that in mind, how do you source passive candidates efficiently?
1. Build Candidate Personas
Intake sessions are important, so connect with your hiring manager and go over the role requirements. Make sure you are both on the same page about what an ideal candidate looks like — should they come from a start-up or a managed service provider? Would they be hands-on or act as a leader? Do they focus on design and solutions or delivery and maintenance?
Build candidate personas based on the information you’ve gathered. It can help narrow your talent pool and stop wasting time with unnecessary profile scanning.
2. Start from Internal Database Mining
Look no further; the ideal candidate might have already been in your database. Those who recently applied for other openings at your organization or those you connected with not long ago can be perfect candidates. They may still be actively looking and available immediately.
Before going for external sourcing, run a quick database mining operation within your ATS; some good profiles may pop up with their contact information.
3. Diversify Your External Social Sourcing Channels
Unlike job boards, which are primarily one-way communications (candidates applying for job openings), online social platforms are more engaging yet time and effort-consuming. Using tech sourcing as an example, the most effective platforms for social sourcing are LinkedIn, Twitter, Github, Stack Overflow and Google X-Ray.
You can also take advantage of the non-traditional channels by leveraging Instagram, TikTok, Slack, Reddit, Clubhouse (I used to be a huge fan 😄).
Consider some communities as well. For example, check out Behance and Dribbble if you’re looking for designers, AngelList and Underdog if you’re hiring for a start-up.
4. Craft a Compelling Outreach Message
Tell candidates about your company, the team culture, ongoing initiatives and growth. Your story should target the candidate’s goals, not your company’s. Knowing your audience is crucial to writing a strong outreach message; you want to focus on their wants and needs without overloading them with information.
Tell them why you believe this would be a good match. Keep them excited and engaged. Check out this article I wrote that highlights 5 tips on reaching out to candidates.
5. Ask for Employee Referrals
The best source of candidates always comes from a personal network and the company’s employees. Studies show that referred candidates have a longer tenure than traditional hires. Beyond that, an established employee referral program can reduce recruiting costs since referred candidates typically onboard faster.
Ask employees to refer their network by promoting a company-wide referral program and add referral bonuses to encourage quality referrals.
With human capital being a crucial resource for today’s organizations, strategically locating and identifying top talent is critical. It ensures companies remain competitive in such a high-demand talent market. The above candidate sourcing strategies can help you efficiently build winning teams for your organization.
