Candidate sourcing is a crucial element in the recruitment process for many organisations, and it enables you to reach out to the most talented individuals, rather than relying solely on hiring someone from the pool of people who happen to see a role advertised.
This kind of talent sourcing has always been important in big business, but it has also evolved substantially over the years, and is a long way from the blunt-instrument ‘headhunting’ of the corporate 1980s.
Of course the internet has transformed the discipline too, just as it has led to major changes in recruitment as a whole, and the industry is on the cusp of a third wave of candidate sourcing at present.
The ability to search for suitable candidates online has made this first part of the process less of an expedition – recruiters no longer need to (sometimes literally) go to the ends of the Earth to be able to contact and meet face-to-face with talented individuals.
However, that does not mean that the discipline as a whole is any easier, as the balance has tipped firmly in favour of the candidate in many ways.
Find Qualified, Interested and Available Candidates easily and at reduced costs
Savvy candidates are getting better and better at making themselves known, by maintaining professional social networking profiles and engaging in online discussions, debates and recruitment forums – so headhunting now is less about finding them, and more about distinguishing the true talent from those who are just good at self-marketing.
Even once you know who you want, or have narrowed the list down to a small pool of potentials, you can no longer just throw money at the role – most business budgets would not allow for that, and many candidates are looking for more from their career than just money too.
You need to approach the candidate carefully, bearing in mind that the very best among them are likely to receive multiple invitations to interview for different roles with different companies, often in a very short space of time.
Candidate sourcing as a profession is less about the hunt than it used to be, and more about capturing the interest of the individual, and engaging them with the recruitment process at hand.
But while this proactive reaching-out to candidates represented the second wave of talent sourcing, where does the future of the profession lie?
The answer depends on your sector and the nature of your business – and on the amount of talent that exists in the sector workforce overall.
Where there is sufficient supply, the third wave of talent sourcing is about making your role lucrative to the right kind of applicants, and potentially nurturing your relationship with the very best candidates even if they are not available to join your company immediately.
