The 6 key steps of sourcing in recruitment


Share on
The 6 key steps of sourcing in recruitment

Any company that wants to be sustainable must organize effective recruitment campaigns. For this, recruiters use certain strategies, including sourcing. Indeed, sourcing aims to identify the best profiles for a given position. Thanks to this strategy, recruitment is faster, more efficient, and less resource-intensive. Successful sourcing is based on certain steps that are good to know. This article informs you about 6 steps that will allow you to do good sourcing in recruitment.

Identify needs

The identification of needs is the first step in sourcing. It is very important because it is the one that guides the research. Indeed, in a company, there are several departments that work in synergy. Thanks to this teamwork, the company remains productive and competitive. Each link in the chain is therefore indispensable to society. That is why when a position is vacant or does not yet exist, a solution must be found quickly. Hence the importance of corporate recruitment.

Know the position to be filled

However, before recruiting, you need to know the position to be filled and the skill(s) you are looking for. To do this, you can collect the opinions of your employees. Since they work within the company, they have a clear idea of the needs and missing skills. You can use an Employee review trust platform to record your collaborators’ responses. These opinions will serve as a basis for guiding the search for talent.

The identification of needs provides several useful information for a successful recruitment campaign. The list of recruitment needs is not exhaustive. But, in general, it is necessary to identify:

  • the vacant or missing position;
  • the skills required;
  • the level of education corresponding to these skills and;
  • qualities.

To get started, find out about the vacancy(s) or non-existent positions in the company. Once these are found, you can get an idea of the responsibilities of this position.

Essential skills

The first information thus obtained leads to the second question: what are the skills needed to occupy this position? These skills depend on the role that the worker will have to play. Their identification is therefore guided by the specifications related to the position to be filled. The recruitment team must also inquire about the level of education corresponding to the skills identified. The identification of needs ends with the search for the qualities that the candidate. For example, they must be disciplined, know how to work in a team, know how to lead a work team, etc. The needs thus identified facilitate the establishment of profiles, which is the second stage of the recruitment sourcing.

Establish the profiles you are looking for

The definition of the profiles sought makes it possible to have considerable time savings during a recruitment procedure. Indeed, each talent can be considered an expert in their field. They therefore know how to write the description of their qualifications in order to access the corresponding position. In general, Talents use specific keywords that are related to their competencies. So, when recruiters launch a talent search using the same keywords, there’s a good chance they’ll stumble upon their profile. These words make it easier to find the candidates with the right skills. The prior establishment of profiles therefore allows the recruiter to identify a specific category of talent. Thus, the search is concise and operational, since it leads exactly to the desired candidates. Once the ideal profile is defined, it is necessary to know and use the right tools for research. Hence the importance of the next step.

Using the right tools to find talent

The objectives and challenges of corporate recruitment are numerous. This is why any time savings are strongly desired. However, the lead taken with the definition of the profile is useless if the recruiting team does not know where to look. The research of the best tools occupies the third place among the stages of sourcing in recruitment. There are several sourcing tools that are suitable for talent search. But, depending on the type of skills sought, it is more relevant to use some rather than others. Here is a list of the most used sourcing tools.

Professional social networks

Some networks are specially designed for professional profiles. This is the case of LinkedIn which is also one of the most popular. These tools allow the candidate to fill in their profile that could interest several recruiters. Professional social networks are therefore a gold mine for spotting competent talent.

Job boards

Job boards are websites that are used to publish job offers. Aware of the existence of these sites, talents looking for employment tend to consult them. As a result, job boards are excellent tools to attract the right candidate profile. To do this, simply post the recruitment ad on a popular site.

Trade fairs and forums

Apart from digital tools, there are other sourcing tools. Although recruiters don’t think about it systematically, trade shows and forums are good places for talent searching. In general, this type of event brings together professionals who have either similar or complementary skills. They are therefore full of talents who can all have the right profile for the position to be filled. It is enough to know how to search for candidates to find those who meet the requirements of the current recruitment.

Recruitment agencies

Recruitment agencies are also interesting alternatives. They make it possible to find several candidates who have the right profile. Indeed, the advantage of these firms is that the profiles are already drawn up and well organized. So you just need to identify your exact needs in order to find the right candidate. As a tool, recruitment agencies are very efficient and offer a real time saver.

The network

The network can be a sourcing tool. It is underutilized, but it is no less effective. Indeed, people are called to rub shoulders and forge links with people from various backgrounds. The network can therefore make it possible to find a candidate who has the right profile.

Target potential candidates

At this stage, you already know the profile of the candidates and the tools that will allow you to find them. So it’s time to pre-select talent for recruitment, external or internal. Discover The advantages and disadvantages of external recruitment. To target candidates, it is necessary to choose the most suitable tool(s) among those previously mentioned. Subsequently, the team of recruiters must do research. However, recruitment campaigns are costly in terms of time and resources. It is therefore preferable to opt for operational research, which is also more effective.

To effectively target candidates, there are some interesting tips:

  • The use of Boolean operators for the development of search equations;
  • Research in English;
  • Advanced search on professional social networks.

Boolean operators (and, or, except) are useful words only for searching with engines. These words are used to write search equations to find exactly the desired results. These operations are composed of keywords that are separated by a Boolean operator. In addition, it is not excluded that some profiles are written in English. So think about doing some research in English to target candidates with the right profile and varied skills.

There are also some tips for searching on professional social networks. These include using advanced search options and viewing suggested profiles. However, professional social networks are designed to suggest information to users. In general, the suggestions are related to the research you have done. Consulting suggestions is therefore an interesting trick to quickly find the right profiles.

Contact and source candidates

At the end of the previous stages of sourcing, candidates are selected. They share skills that are essential to be recruited for the vacant post. But, during all this time, the candidates were not approached. Recruiters must now ensure that the selected candidates really have the right profile. But they also have the heavy responsibility of organizing an original recruitment campaign to attract and convince talent. For this, they can be inspired by Original recruitment campaigns that have already proven their worth.

In general, candidates who fill in their profiles online also put their contact details. Recruiters can therefore easily reach them through a variety of means, including:

  • telephone number;
  • account on a professional social network;
  • email.

On the other hand, if the recruitment is organized internally, potential candidates can be contacted directly. Internal recruitment can be a good alternative. But, before making this choice, discover
the advantages and disadvantages of internal recruitment
.

Once the recruiting team gets in touch with candidates, they can get new information. These will complement those that are already known and confirm the skills of the candidates. After making a first selection thanks to the new information, recruiters can offer a face-to-face or remote interview. This meeting is also ideal to confirm the candidate’s statements. But for it to bear fruit, it must be well conducted. These few Tips for conducting a job interview will be of great use.

All new information obtained should be organized and ranked in order of importance and relevance. After this prioritization of data, recruiters have all the cards in hand to identify the perfect candidate, who will be recalled and recruited.

Manage talent

After the interviews, the candidate who best meets the company’s needs is easy to identify. They are therefore recruited and the HR team organizes their integration. It is also very important to organize well the integration of an employee into a company. The question of the future of talents who have not been recruited arises. Recruiters should not neglect these candidates.

Indeed, in the life of a company, recruitment is commonplace. It is organized to keep society competitive. However, if each recruitment requires a new list of talents, the campaigns will be long and costly. This is why profiles who have already auditioned during previous recruitments are not totally excluded.

The final step in sourcing is talent management. It consists of keeping the information collected during each recruitment, subject to coming out soon. But that’s not all. During this stage, the HR team keeps a watch. Thus, the professional development of candidates is constantly monitored. Their CVs are also updated regularly. Thus, when the question of new recruitment arises, there is already a list of talents with various skills. It is also easier to find the rare pearl by consulting the already-known profiles.

Recruitment sourcing is a long-term process that allows for more effective recruitment. It allows you to find qualified candidates and save time during recruitment campaigns. In addition, sourcing offers the opportunity to have a clear idea of the cost of acquiring new talent. However, its implementation takes time. Recruiters must therefore be patient to organize the stages of recruitment sourcing. You now hold all the cards to apply sourcing in recruitment and enjoy its benefits. 

Hover over the stars then click to validate the rating
Click here to discover the offer Employer brand blog