Here in 2018, after twelve years into this recruiting thing, filling jobs after others have struggled, attending industry conferences, and consulting within various internal talent acquisition departments, I’ve finally narrowed down the top 5 candidate sourcing mistakes I notice. Do any of these seem familiar?

1. Forgetting a sourcing strategy. Yes, you need one, every time you take your sourcing efforts and the requisition into the market. Effective sourcing takes some initial planning. There’s a long game and a short game, and it’s heavily-influenced by your open job, the candidate market, and how much time you can dedicate to your sourcing. Volume versus interactions, just as one example. There’s also just planning your ‘hello’ and your ‘pitch.’ If you dive in without planning your strategy, you are guaranteed to say to yourself, “Whoops, I should have [____]” not long after, or even worse . . . at the end when you thought you had a done deal. The consequences are costly and stressful.

2. Failure to effectively engage candidates. Locating prospective candidates is one thing. Engaging them . . . soliciting a response to a cold reach-out, and having an authentic and valuable exchange, is another. There is an art & science to eliciting a response: it’s a balance of grabbing attention through the ‘noise,’ creating trust, establishing a value proposition, and doing it all very quickly and without being a sleazeball nor a recruiter-bot. I have cold-contacted candidates over the years and because our conversations were genuine and authentic – and downright enjoyable – many became my hires (and sometimes company colleagues). Some have even become my friends. Seriously . . . all starting with a cold call or email. That’s authentic and effective engagement.

3. Failure to find candidates. Certainly, there are various markets for candidates, and certain candidates are more scarce, in-demand and elusive than others. But these days, there are so many tools out there, ways to find people, and ways to receive an actual personal introduction…there’s really not much excuse if you’re not at least locating some talent that you’re targeting. Just don’t be a creeper!

4. Selling too hard. The biggest risk in sourcing is moving forward with a candidate who, from the beginning, is likely going to waste your hiring leader’s (and everyone’s) time and decline an offer at the end. You’re tapping them on the shoulder, after all. What you’re selling – the opportunity – is only half the equation. You’re dealing with a person and their life, and their beloved career. If you don’t spend half of your dialogue on them, their situation, their goals, their specific short and long game, you’re likely going to shoot yourself in the foot. And it’s not the passive candidate’s fault; it’s yours as the recruiter.

5. Lack of being human. Sourcing involves dialogue and communication. And nowadays we can communicate quickly but it’s harder for it to really stick. If you sound like robot or like you’re selling cars; don’t personalize anything; come off like you don’t care; or just see dollar signs on peoples’ LinkedIn profiles and resumes instead of a person . . . that is the level of respect and response you will get back. Nothing more to say on this one.

So here’s the rub: how do you do all of this effectively and efficiently? How do you give people enough individual conversations yet cover enough ground to find the candidates you need? Practice. Experience. Or hiring a professional to train your team, or take this activity off your plate for a tough opening. 4SIGHT SEARCH is available and serving clients nation-wide. We operate according to 3 core principles:

– Transparency & Authenticity

– Quality & Integrity

– Persistence and Achievement

Not surprisingly, we’ve found that these are the key ingredients to effective talent sourcing and client service delivery.

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