Attracting and hiring top talent is one of the most integral factors on which the long-term success of an organization is dependent. But it’s not as easy as it seems to be. Because efficient candidates won’t come to your hiring department automatically.

But they need to prepare and execute a specific hiring scheme to build a comprehensive talent pipeline for the company. This can be done by adopting different candidate sourcing strategies. Let’s explore the concept in detail.

What is Candidate Sourcing?

Candidate sourcing is the art of mastering the tricks to engage and bond with qualified professionals in order to fill your organization’s current or future vacant positions. Basically, it gives you an opportunity to access a huge talent pool with diversified professionals which you haven’t interacted earlier. Also, it gives you much more control over your talent pipeline and identifies the hidden rock stars.

Considering the contemporary dynamic hiring landscape, it’s quite difficult to discover and hire top talent. But a policy that lets you connect with powerhouse teams that can help your company evolve and progress can be referred to as the candidate sourcing strategy. Let’s look at the fourteen of them in detail.

1/ Rely On Digital Sourcing Platforms That Are Not Extensively Used

First of all, employers need to understand that LinkedIn isn’t the only online sourcing platform. Rather go on discovering and targeting less popular digital channels. Probably you will get a chance to connect with unexploited talent.

In order to select the best online sourcing platform, you need to initially figure out the target candidates and the specific requirements of the jobs available. There are many excellent platforms to hire developers, some powered by AI and many leverage personal interaction.

It has become easy to explore all these untapped channels with the help of different sourcing software solutions such as Entelo and Hiretual. These platforms work on the principle of AI to filter potential candidates across multiple channels simultaneously.

2/ Get The Recruiters & Hiring Managers On The Same Page

The entire hiring process can never be successful if there’s improper communication between the recruiters and hiring managers. These both teams must be on the same page when sourcing potential candidates. It’s extremely helpful in searching quality professionals as well as allows recruiters to tailor their search in accordance with the feedback from the hiring managers.

3/ Design Ideal Outreach Messages

You can master the trick to source the right candidates but the task of encouraging them to get involved with you is a daunting one. This is why you have to create an impressive outreach message.

For doing this, you must give a captivating headline to the message and keep a personal touch. Also, it’s a good idea to concentrate on the candidates and briefing them by giving an idea of the role and your organization. You can also describe in which ways you want the candidate to add value to your system.

4/ Begin With Exploring Your Own Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

The majority of the employers know the significance of engaging with previously rejected applicants. But in reality, no one practices it. Therefore, you should look for potential candidates in your organization’s ATS first.

This is the best way to save time as your team has already screened these candidates in the past. Also, you can use an efficient AI-powered tool Atipica which can spare you from the tedious task of filtering candidates manually.

5/ Keep Following Up With Candidates

It’s quite natural that a candidate has ignored your first email outreach. But there are rare chances of him ignoring the follow-up email. Even if you are not expecting a reply pitch to such candidates by sending them best wishes on their special days or congratulating them on achieving a professional milestone.

This can keep those candidates in your radar and they’ll definitely think of you when planning to make a move. Moreover, in the cases where the candidate is seriously not interested he can provide you with a few references.

6/ Mingle Up With The Current Employees & Make A Wise Use Of Their Network

You should invite your employees to participate in the sourcing sessions and give names of some candidates whom they think could be a perfect fit for closing a vacancy in the organization. Also, employee referrals can bring top-notch performers to your company’s doorstep.

7/ Avoid Analyzing The Resumes Way Too Much Than Required

It’s the fact that resumes have the crux of the candidate’s experience and qualification details. But it’s not a good idea to dive deep in them. Rather you can pick up the phone and call a candidate. You might get surprised by his impressive tone or communication ability.

8/ It’s All About Building A Brand Name In The Market

As per a study carried out by Corporate Responsibility Magazine, it was revealed that more than 80% of candidates would consider leaving their current job to grab an offer coming from an organization with an excellent reputation in the market.

This is why employers must invest their precious time and money in building their brand image. Believe it or not, this can be the most effective recruiting weapon in your company’s arsenal.

9/ Try Your Luck At Social Sourcing

Apart from exploiting the employees’ network, it’s also advisable to invite them for sharing your company’s latest news on social media platforms. Also, they can post the current vacancies on their social media profiles and it can be used as a key to unlock hidden talent in their extended social network.

10/ Be A Part Of Networking Events

Participating in networking events let you discover professionals who you can’t find from digital sourcing efforts. These events can be the ultimate platform to interact with the privileged ones and get an opportunity for motivating them to be a part of your system.

11/ Streamline The Application Process For Your Company

The application process of your organization should be as simple as possible. The candidates must not experience any hassle or difficulties when applying to open positions. Add the relevant information and remove the unwanted questions. The candidates should be able to complete the process with minimum clicks. Also, the career section of your website must function seamlessly on multiple platforms such as mobile, laptops, etc.

12/ Keep Optimizing Your Online Presence Regularly

Considering the fact that the majority of applicants opt online channel to apply for a job, its mandatory to keep your digital presence updated. The job seekers should find each and every piece of the latest information related to your company on the internet across all channels easily.

13/ Leverage Multiple Sources For Identifying The Best Talent

It’s not at all a good idea to be dependent on a single search resource such as Boolean. It’s up to you how to utilize the potential of multiple sources and keep your search on the right track throughout the hiring process.

14/ Come Out Of Your Shell & Refine Your Hiring Strategies

You should never think that the candidate sourcing strategies adopted by you are the best and they don’t need any sort of modification. This can be harmful for your organization in the long-run. Rather, believe in coming out of your own fairytale and work on your hiring policies in order to build a comprehensive talent pool.

These fourteen strategies can help you identify and engage with the real gems from the available talent pool. You can use these ways to create and maintain an exclusive talent pipeline for your company which is blessed with qualified and experienced professionals you can easily hire and retain.

Author Bio:

Anubhuti Shrivastava is a content crafter at Arkenea and Benchpoint. She is passionate about writing articles on topics related to design and the software development industry.

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