In today’s hyper-competitive job market, do not expect high-end talent to just fall into your lap any time soon. Recruiters are battling a growing trend where many applicants are deemed underqualified and companies are working harder than ever to not lose their valuable employees.

Rather than waiting for the best candidate to walk through the door, you need to start developing a sound talent sourcing strategy to identify, attract, and pool together a list of qualified contenders, so that when a position opens up you aren’t starting from scratch.

 

What Is Sourcing? 

Simply put, talent sourcing is proactively searching for and engaging with prospective candidates to fill an immediate or future vacancy. To source the right type of candidate, the first step you must take is to present your brand to the talent pool effectively. Much like every other step in the recruitment process, prospective candidates are assessing you just as much as you are them. 

Every interaction with a potential employee provides you with the unique possibility to build the company’s brand and provide credibility to the job being offered. This is especially true when it comes to utilizing social media for talent sourcing, where the chance to show off your brand reaches far beyond your geolocation.  

Keep in mind that even though only a third of today’s workforce is actively looking for a new job prospect at any given time, a whopping 90 percent is more than willing to talk and learn more about what another organization has to offer. If executed properly, then your brand will distinguish you from the competition, resonate loudly with obscure top-tier talent, and drive higher engagement throughout the sourcing process.

 

Brand and Communication 

Once you have generated a list of potentially qualified candidates, it is time to dig deeper and assess if they are best suited to not only perform the positional requirements but successfully integrate well with your organization’s culture and values. This requires a steady flow of communication and brand awareness. LinkedIn is just one of the many social media platforms available to establish a steady flow of professional communication. Do not neglect other popular social media outlets such as Facebook and Telegram, and do not be shy to send out personal emails either.

Sourcing successfully can only be effective if your brand message and communications are adaptive. Do not just focus on one message to attract a candidate, because what might work for one may completely be irrelevant to another. Of course, it is important to communicate culture, team, and vision but also strive to think out the box by engaging with a potential candidate about their skills, hobbies, and motivations.  

It is always important to keep nurturing your existing talent database before it becomes obsolete. Keep constant tabs on your prospects by keeping them updated about the latest happenings at your company or sending out an intimate email to show them you value what they have to offer. Chances are when a candidate is ready to make a career switch, they will reach out to the company that has kept them in the loop over the past few months.

 

RPO Built to Source Talent

Effectively sourcing qualified candidates takes a significant amount of time and energy, and not many companies can dedicate the full amount of resources and attention the process deserves.

Instead of giving it a half-hearted effort and tarnishing your brand along the way, outsource the duties to a reputable Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) provider who is built to seek, build, and foster relationships with active and passive candidates. What makes RPO providers so unique is that through their innovative talent sourcing methods and strategies they have been very successful in luring away top-tier talent from competitors.   

 

In the war for talent, it is crucial to keep one step ahead of the competition by developing a sound talent sourcing strategy. You are only setting up yourself for success if you spend the time and effort to learn how to find the best possible candidates, how to optimally reach them, and successfully maintain and nurture the talent pipeline.