Sourcing (personnel)

Sourcing in personnel management work refers to the identification and uncovering of candidates (also known as talent) through proactive recruiting techniques.

Historical context

The evolution of recruiting has changed significantly over the last few decades. What started out as the responsibility of office managers to place job advertisements in newspapers or help wanted signs to attract potential employees, has now grown into a multi- billion dollar industry, where the identification of talent requires internal corporate recruitment departments or employment agencies solely focused on this transaction through both proactive and reactive recruiting techniques.

Today the actual act of identifying candidates has even been split into dedicated roles and job functions, whereas historically sourcing was the sole and inclusive responsibility of the recruiter along with other job responsibilities (examples):

• Screen and interview candidates against the position requirements
• Work closely with the hiring manager on hiring activities
• Help with the "offer letter" and interview process

A third-party recruitment agency or corporate recruiting department can now be made up of individuals dedicated to just the sourcing of candidates while recruiters can either focus on more account management responsibilities or leverage sourcing experts to supplement an additional volume of potential candidates. An increasing number of agencies and corporate recruiting departments outsource this work to a Recruitment Process Outsourcing vendor.

Detailed definition

The actual act of sourcing for candidates is performed by either a recruiter (be it an internal corporate recruiter or agency recruiter) or a dedicated recruiter just focused on the sourcing function. The definition of sourcing needs to be clearly defined by what it is, as much as what it is not. Candidate sourcing activity typically ends once the name, job title, job function and contact information for the potential candidate is determined by the candidate sourcer. To further develop a list of names that were sourced some companies have a second person then reach out to the names on the list to initiate a dialogue with them with the intention of pre-screening the candidate against the job requirements and guaging the interest level in hearing about new job opportunitites. This activity is called "candidate profiling" or "candidate pre-screening". The term candidate sourcing should not be confused with candidate research.

In some situations a person that "sources" candidates can and will perform both 'primary' and 'secondary' sourcing techniques to identify candidates as well as the candidate profiling to further pre-screen candidates but there is a growing market for experts solely focused on "phone sourcing", "internet sourcing/researching" and candidate profiling. The actual act to source candidates can usually be split out into two clearly defined techniques; primary sourcing and secondary sourcing.

Primary sourcing/Phone Sourcing

In recruiting and sourcing, this means the leveraging of techniques (primarily the phone) to identify candidates with limited to no presence of these individuals in any easily accessible public forum (the Internet, published list, etc). It requires the uncovering of candidate information via a primary means of calling directly into organizations to uncover data on people, their role, title and responsibilities.

The term "phone sourcers" or "Phone Name Generator" generally applies to the utilization of primary sourcing techniques.

Secondary sourcing/Internet Sourcing

In recruiting and sourcing, this means the using of techniques (primarily the Internet and utilizing advanced Boolean operators) to identify candidates. Individuals in the recruiting industry that have deep expertise in uncovering talent in the harder to reach places on the internet (forums, blogs, alumni groups, conference attendee lists, personal home pages, etc).

The term "internet sourcer", "Internet Name Generator" or "internet researcher" generally applies to the use of secondary sourcing techniques

Examples of sourcing techniques

Sourcing for candidates refers to proactively identifying people who are either a) not actively looking for job opportunities (passive candidates) or b) candidates who are actively searching for job opportunities (active candidates), though the industry also recognizes the existence of 'active candidate sourcing' using candidate databases, job boards and the like.

Though there has been much debate within the staffing community as to how to accurately define an "active candidate" versus a "passive candidate" typically either term is irrelevent to a candidate sourcer as the status of any particular candidate can change from moment to moment or with a simple phone call from a recruiter that happenes to present a job opportunity that is perceived to be either better or worse than the job the person has now. The status of being an "active" or "passive" candidate is fluid and changing depending on the circumstances and position being offered.

Proactive techniques

1. Using Boolean operators on major search engine sites (Google,Live.com, Yahoo!, etc) to identify potential candidates who might meet the criteria of the position to be filled based on targeted keywords. Example string in Google: "SAP consultant" (resume | CV | "curriculum vitae")
2. Searching for candidates in job boards (Example:Monster.com) using keywords related to the position requirements.
3. Looking in your own recruitment database for candidates using keywords related to the position requirements.
4. Networking (See: Business network) with individuals to uncover candidates. This would include the use of social networking tools and sites.

Example: LinkedIn

1. "Phone sourcing" or cold calling into companies that might contain individuals that match the key requirements of the position that needs to be filled.

Examples of what sourcing is not

Reactive techniques

1. Reviewing candidates who have applied to positions through the corporate/agency web site
2. Processing an employee referral
3. Corporate recruiter receiving candidates from employment agencies
4. Screening candidates at a career fair

Natural habitat

By nature of the position, recruiters do not have the time to conduct primary research and initial candidate development. A typical recruiter is bombarded with calls all day from vendors, busy processing candidates, meeting with hiring managers, and talking with employees. Those distractions can throw off an otherwise excellent Internet search. Sourcers must remain focused on the search and development of leads just as recruiters must remain focused on maintaining communication with candidates in process, enforcing HR policies, attending meetings, negotiating, and handling the hiring from initial offer to on-boarding.

Specialization: internet researcher

Sourcing and Internet research is a highly specialized field that takes years to master. Many of the best sourcers started out as recruiters who found they enjoy the “thrill of the hunt” more than the rest of the process and became successful because of their heightened research skills and abilities. Another common origin for strong sourcers is from professions where research or investigative skills are an imperative (journalists, librarians, fact-checkers, academic researchers, etc.), which is a common skillset with the field of competitive intelligence.

Several recruiters can rely on the same sourcer to generate leads and fill the pipeline with pre-screened or pre-qualified candidates. Sourcers are often the initial point of contact with a candidate, qualifying whether they are a real job seeker or just a job shopper. As a result, sourcers are uniquely positioned to sell or “pre-close” candidates before the candidates enter the recruitment process.

Specialization: diversity sourcing

Corporate recruiters specializing in the sourcing of candidates for inclusion in a diverse candidate pool. Methods include searching for specific keywords found on resumes, sourcing from affinity groups and researching other communities.

References