5 Candidate Sourcing Techniques Every Recruiter Should Know

Candidate sourcing proves that the best talents for your company could be just around the corner. A study carried out by Entelo revealed that 73% of talent acquisition professionals found highly qualified candidates through sourcing efforts, as compared to other sources, like inbound applicants, reports HR Daily Advisor. So, it’s no surprise that 87% of these talent acquisition professionals have active outbound sourcing efforts to find the most qualified talents for their company. Similarly, if you want to acquire good candidates for your workplace, then you need to follow these sourcing techniques:

1. Establish a strong brand as an employer

Before conducting a search, you need to establish your brand as an employer. Having a good reputation can accelerate your sourcing process and even reduce your hiring costs by 32%, according to Gartner. Moreover, a strong employer brand can go a long way since about 94% of job seekers are looking for companies that have a good reputation within the industry. So, if you want to improve your chances of sourcing top talent, you can start by boosting your employer brand on social media networks like Facebook or LinkedIn. Share your brand’s story and accomplishments on official accounts to show potential applicants what you can offer.

2. Tap into the workforce’s network

One of the quickest ways to build your talent pipeline is to tap into employee and/or employer networks. This is an efficient strategy since the workforce already has a grasp of what you’re looking for in an applicant and what you can offer as a company. Such a method is especially effective now that many professionals regularly engage in remote networking, according to LHH’s post on 5 tips for remote working. Thus, you can ask people in the workforce to write up a list of potential candidates that would fit in your company. Afterward, you can contact these candidates through e-mail or even through professional networking platforms like LinkedIn. Through this strategy, you can easily find trusted and qualified talents for any company role.

3. Look through the recruitment database

You can also source potential candidates by looking into your company’s existing recruitment database. Companies should maintain a database of candidates who have applied in the past. Since their information is already available to the company, you can re-evaluate their resume and examine if they're a fit for the current job positions you can offer. These candidates are more likely to engage with your company since they have already expressed their interest in working with your business in the past. And when the time comes that you need to hire new talent, you can easily reach out to these individuals in your talent pipeline.

4. Utilize online and offline sourcing methods

Aside from leveraging your company networks and the recruitment database, you can also source strong candidates by utilizing both online and offline sourcing strategies. CNBC states that around 55% of recruiters are sourcing potential hires through phone calls while others are using AI job outreach programs. AI-driven solutions speed up the sourcing processes by scanning candidate resumes and conducting interviews. Meanwhile, offline sourcing methods, like career events and conferences, foster trust and increase engagement among potential candidates. As such, you need to use online and offline strategies to source the best candidates for your company.

5. Send an engaging outreach message

Once you’ve found promising candidates for your company, you need to engage them properly by sending a compelling outreach message. Whether you’re contacting these professionals through a social media network or phone call, you need to create a candidate-focused message. This is so they will be more likely to engage with your company. For instance, our article on ‘8 Employee Engagement Statistics You Need to Know in 2021’ stated that 33% of employees jump ship because they want to find new challenges. Consequently, you need to emphasize your company’s learning and career opportunities so that candidates will be interested in your offer.

Candidate sourcing increases your chances of finding qualified people for your team. To attract the best talent, you must establish your brand, tap into your workforce's network, look into your recruitment database, utilize online/offline methods, and engage potential applicants. By making use of these techniques, you're sure to build an impressive talent pipeline that you can tap into should the company require new hires.

Wrapping Up 

Contrary to popular belief, onboarding employees doesn’t end after the applicants are hired and upskilled for their tasks. In many cases, effective onboarding may include a cluster of processes, such as re-skilling and cross-skilling.  This is to make them more suitable for the job, regardless of whether it’s remote work or an on-site job. And even if you have remote employee options, you can also onboard remotely with the help of modern tech tools. Just make sure the process is in line with employee recognition and engagement through incentivization and similar programs, which are crucial in employee retention. 

Suppose you’re tasked to simplify the onboarding process for forklift employees in Toronto, you could use the tips and insights you’ve gained from this article. Although you may only select the ones appropriate to your needs and situations. 

About Author: This article is written by our marketing team at HR Cloud. HR Cloud is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!