Many employers are realising that they are now actually weighed down by weary recruiters who have reached a dead-end when it comes to sourcing fresh job candidates. And why not, as the small pond of Internet job boards and resume banks are fast running dry. No matter what the job criteria, it turns up the same pool of jaded candidates who are approached by various recruiters left, right and centre.
This has spawned a new breed of ‘strategic sourcers’ or ‘power sourcers’ who have quickly realised that the job boards only account for a meagre 10 per cent of the entire working population. The vast ocean is still out there, calling your name and asking to be tapped.
Process: What these sourcers actually do is cast their web wide beyond the traditional sources like job boards, online postings, classified ads and job fairs because while these may spurn copious resumes, the results are often unsuitable or even dated or inactive.
Instead, the sourcers identify and uncover talented candidates hidden in untapped nooks and corners by using proactive techniques.
The most common mode is directly cold-calling possible candidates who are otherwise not accessible in any public forum like the Internet.
They also source the Internet, but rather than the ubiquitous job boards, they turn to harder-to-reach places like personal home pages, alumni groups, blogs, social networking sites and other forums. Apart from this, sourcers also regularly tap their own private databases and contact networks to track down new names.
This throws up a motley collection of potential candidates that are literally fresh from the oven. As in the words of Maureen Sharib, a top telephone names sourcer, “That person, many times, has never been contacted before by anyone from the ‘outside’ world offering them what you have to offer. That person, many times, is flattered you took the time to seek them out and many times will listen attentively to what you have to say”.
Candidate sourcing activity typically involves generating a list of untapped, suitable candidates with their name, job title, job function and contact information.
This is usually done by contacting people who hold specific titles in (specific) organisations. This is why sourcers are also known as name generators.
Sourcers also offer some preliminary screening where they contact the candidate to determine whether he suits the job requirements and also whether he is interested in new job opportunities.
The organisation has to apprise the sourcer of the particulars like job description, list of target companies you want him to penetrate (optional), special instructions, if any and other accoutrements.
Weighing pros & cons: Professional sourcing brings several advantages like heightened research skills, focused search abilities and layered knowledge of various candidates.
The solid experience coupled with an instinctive intuition keeps the pipeline brimming with additional volumes of latent talent.
Simply put, sourcing is nothing but primary research, which was earlier done by recruiters themselves. But, transferring this time-consuming burden to professional sourcers frees the recruiters to now concentrate on the screening, processing and interviewing of the candidates sourced.
It pays to leverage the considerable expertise of outside name generators, especially when your recruiters are struggling to find new leads or have no hope of finding them.
But, there are a few important things to consider before bringing in professional sourcers to complement the efforts of your recruiting team. The quality of the sourcer, reputation and experience in sourcing is quite critical. It is advisable to check out the sourcers’ and ensure that they implement best practices.
Also, consider the current recessionary climate and tightening purse strings before taking on the additional costs that professional sourcing is bound to incur. Still, some experts argue that external sourcing successfully fills hard-to-place positions only at a fraction of the cost of the long-drawn out traditional recruiting venues.
All said and done, at the end of the day, sourcing can only generate some good leads.
Recruiting will only happen when the middle-of-the-road prospects are subtly persuaded to accept job offers!
PAYAL CHANANIA
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