Finding the right candidate for a job position is essential for long-term business success. With the right pool of candidates, you can shorten the interview phase only to include qualified candidates, access talent in the market, and also have room for proper negotiations. As a recruiter, defining your sourcing strategy and tools can help you optimize the process. Let’s explore the top sourcing strategies for recruiters.

1. Understand the Job Description & Responsibilities

Before you begin, the most important step to take is ensuring that you understand why the business is hiring in the first place. What is the company looking for? A detailed and accurate job description that clearly lays out the responsibilities of the position helps you find the right candidates and saves everyone time on both ends.

It helps to begin by doing a thorough intake with the hiring manager. What level of skill and experience is the company looking for? What, precisely, will the final hire be responsible for? How can you use the information to improve your sourcing strategy?

2. Check in With Your Previous Candidates

Tapping into your existing talent pool is one of the best sourcing strategies for recruiters. Imagine a situation where a job post receives 150 applications, but only one person is hired. The remaining 149 candidates may not receive a job in the first round but may be a good fit for other job positions.

Since you likely have their contact information, use this opportunity to reach out to them. Keeping each candidate engaged and in your talent pool helps you have a reliable sourcing pipeline that is pre-screened for the right kind of person.

3. Invest In an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

Investing in modern tools that automate processes and store data is vital for the recruitment process. An ATS helps you store all applicant resumes in a central location, and also helps you pick out qualified candidates. These systems also help you remain organized during the recruitment process and separate your recruitment emails and job emails.

Some ATSs also rank the candidates and organize them from the highest to the lowest rank, which improves your chances of finding the qualified candidates in shorter periods. What’s more, an ATS can identify candidates that more closely followed the application instructions, or that meet certain criteria.

4. Create Engaging Advertisements & Job Descriptions

One reason that recruiters sometimes receive poor applications or fewer than they need is because their job ads are inadequate, or their job descriptions aren’t attracting the right talent. It’s critical to remember that while you may have the hiring power, prospective employees are measuring you as a potential fit as well. They would also like to understand the company, vision, values, and ensure there’s alignment in what they want in a new employer.

For example, research suggests that Gen-Z candidates prefer flexible hours, high technological sophistication, and social media interactions. If your job ad isn’t out on social media, then you may be missing out on the most qualified candidates. By the same token, if you do not have an active social media presence at all, you may be failing to take advantage of a crucial connection point for younger candidates.

Creating a detailed and appealing job post can help you attract the best candidates. A detailed post that is shareable across social media is critical for sourcing candidates. For an appealing job ad consider:

  • A clear job title

  • An emotive description of the job: “the hook”

  • Your company or brand story: information about the company such as culture, years of existence, product, and services

  • Why the candidate should apply for the position (i.e. what’s in it for them?)

  • Your address and contact information

  • The application process or link to the application instructions

Remember also to consider where to share the job post. It should at the very least appear on your business website, on the careers page, so candidates can verify that the job post is genuine. Second, share the post on all your social media pages, job boards, and career sites where potential candidates can easily reach it.

5. Ask for Referrals

If you wish to keep the recruitment process short, ask for referrals from other recruiters, hiring managers, employees within the company, or outside the business. Why? In most cases, people do not recommend unqualified candidates, especially when they wish to maintain the network. If the person they recommend fails at their job, it can reflect badly on the referee.

References are an excellent source of qualified and skilled candidates. It helps to ask for several referrals and then conduct a brief interview to find the right employee for the business. Also, referred candidates tend to stay longer in jobs because of the relationship and commitment to the employee that referred them.

6. Hiring Internally

Recruitment doesn’t have to happen outside the organization, especially if the position requires a good understanding of the job description and company culture. For instance, if you’re hiring a manager, it may help to pick from their team and encourage internal mobility as a result.

Hiring internally works well, especially when a senior staff member is retiring or a new department is opening up. The best part about this recruitment strategy is that it promotes employees within the company, and reduces the cost of training. It’s often less disruptive to both the individual and the company to hire a candidate with good experience in the business, and provides incentives for employees to exceed expectations and excel in their roles.

Streamline Your Hiring Process Today

Utilizing automation tools can streamline your hiring process, reduce the margin of error, and ensure quick responses to all applicants. With Interseller, you can reach out to hundreds of candidates, verify their contact information, send automatic follow-ups, all on one platform.

Contact us today for a demo.