Glennlist

When the first chance to switch from recruiting to sourcing came my way, I jumped on it like a Spider Monkey. Yeah, sure, sourcers are labeled nerdy, geeky, and homely, but our work is fun. And, to be good a sourcer you shouldn’t have to guzzle Red Bull, and bang out hundred complex Boolean search strings. You just need to know these three rules.

Cold Calls

Some good sourcing blogs are Boolean Black Belt and Research Goddess but you’re NOT going to find training materials on how to cold call candidates. And to be honest, good sourcers need to know how to make a cold calls. Unfortunately, most companies don’t want sourcers to make ANY calls. That is the recruiter’s job they say. But, if you really want to reduce time to fill, sourcers need to make the first call and SELL the candidate on the job. And, that requires cold calling.

Know How To Treat Passive Candidates

Great sourcers find tons of rock star candidates and toss them over to a recruiter who then sends out a generic email with a lame job description and link to a job req. If you think this method works, please stop reading now and go back to your teddy bear filled bed. Passive candidates are NOT actively looking for jobs. So don’t treat them as if they applied online. Establish a relationship and court them like a horn-dog politician in a room full of sexy interns.

Stay in one place

A lot of companies shuffle sourcers around like a deck of cards. You won’t find much success if sourcers are constantly changing job verticals, geographies, and job profiles. And who gets blamed when the job requisitions have been open for months? The sourcers! And it’s not their fault.  To be effective sourcers, we build pipelines according to profiles. We research the competition and target those key players. So, stop moving sourcers around. Keep them put. You will get better results.

Cold calls, treating candidates better, and staying in one place are three rules for success. Lastly, good sourcers use tools, they snoop, and know things like birthdates, mortgage loans, and divorce settlements.  Given the opportunity to apply these three rules, makes sourcers even better.