Sourcing is the act of proactively searching, identifying, and contacting talented and qualified individuals; it is the initial step involved in talent acquisition and recruitment processes.
Sourcing is of 3 types:
Recruiting is an HR term that refers to the entirety of the hiring and onboarding processes. This recruiting process includes sourcing, as sourcing is the initial step taken by HR and recruiters.
While sourcing and recruiting are not the same thing. They are, however, complementary processes, and their end goal is the same. Recruiting is always preceded by sourcing, as sourcing is often the initial or first step in the recruitment process.
In order to develop a sourcing plan, you must first understand the business and what it requires. When you understand a business from head to toe, only then can you only realize how to run it effectively. So once you study and understand the business, look for the following things:
Sourcing does not begin and end with a single job opening and a single hire. The goal of any sourcing strategy should be to ensure a steady stream of qualified applicants for open positions, both now and in the future. This will allow hiring managers to quickly fill critical roles with the best possible candidates, easily and effectively.
In order to create the best sourcing strategy, you need to use both textbook methods as well as use your own ideas. You can implement the following methods to develop or improve your sourcing strategies:
This includes recording potential and qualified individuals and their information so they can be called upon later when there is an opening. This can be significantly useful and save you resources and time in the future.
Your network includes everyone you come across and can contact. A wide and diversified network allows you to use those individuals in situations where their expertise will prove useful.
Deploying an employee referral program is one of the best ways to easily source qualified and reliable individuals, as those who will refer will be incentivized to recommend the best possible candidate they know of because of the reward.
Social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., can prove to be effective "hunting grounds," as they can increase your reach exponentially. That is because, in social media, candidates can find you in addition to you finding them. This speeds things up and gives you more options to choose from.