Sometimes, placing an advertisement for an open position isn’t enough. While this method may bring in some qualified candidates, it can also attract others who will need to be weeded out. This can be fairly time-consuming, and those that are truly qualified might get lost in the shuffle.
Talent Sourcing Strategies to Expand Your Team
In order to simplify the process and broaden the number of candidates for any job, consider using talent sourcing strategies. Whether you work with a talent sourcing specialist or have one of your human resources employees on the job, this method will help bring in the talented team members you need.
What is Talent Sourcing?
In order to find the best people for an open position, or possibly a soon-to-be-open position, talent sourcing professionals go through and identify potential candidates. This is a bit more refined than simply posting a “help wanted” ad and seeing who applies, because the talent professional strategically sifts through all candidates in order to select people who fit the job description.
Is Talent Sourcing Different from Recruiting?
It’s easy to confuse talent sourcing with recruiting. The main difference is that recruiters have a specific job in mind for the people that they’re contacting. They have a job to fill and need to attract a number of people to it, weeding through sources in order to find the most qualified to contact.
Talent sourcing, on the other hand, requires the professionals to find possible lists of candidates to keep in mind, should a specific job open up. When it does, they’ll reach out and recruit that person, hopefully getting them to apply for the job.
The Most Effective Talent Sourcing Strategies
When it comes to talent sourcing, there are a number of different strategies that you can use. Here are some of the most effective.
Create a Perfect Candidate Profile for Your Reference
What does your ideal candidate look like? Consider listing the qualifications that you’re looking for, including the number of years of experience that they possess, any specific degrees or certificates, and more. You’ll need to list everything that you’d like to have in a potential employee, from their current medical sales experience to their communication skills. The more specific the better.
Start Sourcing Candidates
Where can you look for candidates? There are dozens of places, including LinkedIn, various other forms of social media, like Twitter and Instagram, and specialty job boards, among others. Get creative and try to find places where the best candidate may lurk, such as discussion boards that are related to the job. You’d be surprised at where you’ll find them.
Decide the Medium of Communication
Once you’ve developed a list of potential candidates, you next need to decide how to reach out to them. For example, if you run into them on a job board, you can contact them through their profile. Other options include phone calls and emails, as well as text messages, if you have their cell phone number. No matter which option you choose, make sure to remain professional.
Use Customized Messages
Before you start reaching out to the talent that you’ve sourced, write up some customized messages. You need to make these as specific as possible, noting where you found the candidate, which company you represent, and more. Since there are plenty of scammers out there, you need to make it clear while talent sourcing that you’re legitimate.
Introduce Your Company
In addition, within your message, introduce your company. Mention where it’s located, how long it’s been in business and list the company’s website URL. You need to do whatever you can to entice the candidate into contacting you back, and bringing up these facts is the best way to do so.
Add a Call to Action
As with any cold calling or outreach technique, you need to end your message with a call to action. This can include having them call you back within a specified time, meeting up in person in your office, or even video chatting in order to put a face with the name. No matter what, the person that you’re talent sourcing should know to get to back to you.
The Takeaway
Talent sourcing is one way to ensure that the best possible candidates end up on your list. Whether or not a job is open at the moment, it’s crucial to get a talent sourcing professional to put together people who might be interested in the position in the future.
This way, you won’t have to worry about weeding through numerous candidates and can find a qualified person to hire quickly, ensuring that the process goes smoothly.
