11 talent sourcing and recruitment strategies to find high-quality candidates

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11 talent sourcing and recruitment strategies to find high-quality candidates

11 talent sourcing and recruitment strategies to find high-quality candidates

Every business runs on the activities of its employees. Eventually, employees leave at some point. Without anyone to fill the vacancies when the employees leave, the brand’s business operations will stop. Talent sourcing and recruitment are strategies every organisation can use to keep its talent pipeline filled at all times.

This post details ingenious talent sourcing and recruitment strategies that businesses can use to find and employ world-class talent.

Talent sourcing and recruitment: What are they?

Talent sourcing is the structured process of actively searching for qualified candidates and engaging such individuals to add them to the potential employer’s talent pipeline to fill current and future vacancies in the company. It aims to convert talent into applicants.

In the strict sense, recruitment, which picks up from where talent sourcing left off, is the overall process of screening, shortlisting, interviewing and onboarding successful candidates. However, recruitment could be loosely used to include the talent-sourcing process.

These two elements of talent acquisition are highly beneficial because, when done well, they

11 talent sourcing and recruitment tactics to find exceptional candidates

Below are surefire tips for strategic talent sourcing and recruitment.

Work with your recruitment team and conduct a growth-based need analysis

The first candidate sourcing strategy is to collaborate with your recruitment team. This alliance should be geared towards working out every aspect of talent sourcing and recruitment. However, the major element is to find out what the business needs to grow in terms of talent.

Identifying your business’s needs concerning talent will help you spot the candidates whose skill set will facilitate your business’s growth the most. You don’t want to spend your resources on talent acquisition only to end up in a square-peg-in-a-round-hole situation. Conducting this growth-based need analysis ensures that your talent acquisition strategies are in line with your business’ significant concerns.

Also, teaming up with your recruitment team guarantees everyone is on the same page regarding what should be done and how to execute plans.

Create an ideal candidate profile

You want to attract the best possible candidates as you source talents; to ace this, you need to know what you want. An ideal candidate profile or persona is a definition and representation, based on data and research, of the perfect candidate. It identifies the qualifications, skills, educational background and other characteristics they should have.

With an ideal candidate profile, you’ll have a clearer idea of how to write your job descriptions; this is essential for attracting those who possess the desired skill set. Also, it gives better insight into where you should look for talent. If the role requires mastery in tech, then you know that GitHub or Hired should be on your list of platforms for talent sourcing.

A sound candidate persona also gives hints on the best engagement method for the candidate. As you create the candidate profile, be sure to do a lot of digging. Conduct rigorous searches online and talk to your organisation’s high flyers for a comprehensive understanding of the necessary characteristics those who will fill the relevant roles should possess.

Build a solid employer brand

Do you know that a company’s reputation in the job market, matters to 75% of job seekers?

Candidates want a feel of what it’s like to work in your company. What can your previous, current and potential employees say about your company? If it’s not good things, then you’ve got work to do.

Your employer brand demonstrates your values and how you treat your workforce. Steps you can take to enhance your employer brand include

These pointers will up your chances of attracting the best candidates.

Publish detailed and compelling job postings

Job postings could be excellent talent-sourcing strategies if you go about them the right way. Both active and passive candidates regularly visit job boards to check out the opportunities there. To make the most of them, the job descriptions should be comprehensive enough to itemise every characteristic you want in a candidate. Typically, these are their qualifications, skills and experience.

However, for the sake of strategic talent sourcing, it’s not sufficient to simply slap the job requirements on the job boards. Job postings give you the spotlight to flaunt your brand. What are the benefits of candidates working for your organisation? What makes you stand out from other companies in the increasingly competitive job market?

Do well to outline them in your job posting. Such a display of authenticity and uniqueness works wonders for candidate attraction.

Search all the right places

Companies eager to find world-class candidates leave no stone unturned when it comes to talent sourcing. There are a variety of places where the talent of your dreams might be lurking and you should be checking out all such places.

The first port of call should be your Applicant Tracking System (ATS). it’s more than likely that your recruitment team has made previous talent-sourcing efforts. These candidates who didn’t sail through initially are low-hanging fruits for your current talent-sourcing needs.

Many gurus say that humans turn to the world for answers they can find within themselves. Well, it appears even corporations are guilty of this error. Take the time to look within your workforce to see if any of your team members can fill the role. Chances are you’ll find someone suitable. Where this is the case, do well to promote them accordingly.

Online channels are absolutes for talent sourcing; social media and job boards have proven to be ever-reliable. Equally, offline channels are holding their own. Employee referrals, networking at industry events or partnerships with colleges are fantastic ways to source premium talent.

Harnessing technology is also a necessary strategy for talent sourcing. Artificial Intelligence (AI) helps you scour the various platforms for talents suitable for your organisation, saving you the stress of making a manual effort.

Connect with your leads

Once you’ve locked in on talents that meet your requirements, the next item on the checklist is candidate engagement. The method of engagement is usually dependent on where you found the candidate. If they applied for the role in response to your job posting, just take it from there.

On the other hand, there might be the need for you to reach out to them first. You can either connect with the candidates on a social media platform – think LinkedIn – or via email. Either way, your outreach message has to be optimised and personalised for the best results.

Engage them by touching on personal elements such as their accomplishments and other obvious admirable professional attributes. Proceed to talk about your company, its vision, culture and the perks of joining your organisation. With that out of the way, proceed to talk about the role, the requirements and expectations.

Some of these talents will respond instantly. If they don’t, you should follow up on them after a couple of days.

Build relationships

A good part of talent sourcing is fostering relationships. It’s necessary to keep the talent pipeline chock full at all times. There’s always the possibility that your company will have another role to fill in the future. It behoves you to connect with and nurture relationships with the candidates for such future vacancies.

Another aspect of fostering relationships is targeting and keeping in touch with passive candidates. These are candidates who are already employed and aren’t actively looking for another role. Staying in contact with them keeps your brand at the top of their mind; whenever there’s a need for them to switch, your company will be a prime option.

Streamline the application process

The goal of sourcing talents is to convert them into applicants. You don’t want to ruin your efforts at this stage of talent acquisition. To ensure that the application process is hassle-free

These practices will make it easy for the candidates to apply for roles at your organisation without tearing out their hair or wondering what their stand is.

Screen the candidates and conduct amazing interviews

Having received the candidates’ applications, candidate screening will make you super sure of the ones that meet your requirements. This filtering process guarantees that only the choicest of candidates proceed to the interview stage.

A fine interview process is an effective recruitment strategy you can implement during talent acquisition. Having gotten the candidates to apply for the role at your company, you still have your work cut out for you. So, you should ensure that the interview is a fantastic experience for the candidate.

Some pointers on conducting a great interview include

The interview is a good opportunity to make a positive impression and enhance your brand’s image; our post on how to conduct a successful job interview goes in-depth on what you can do to guarantee a wondrous candidate experience.

Have an excellent onboarding process

A good onboarding process counts as one of the most creative recruitment strategies your company could make the most of. After the candidates nail the interview and accept the job offer, the onboarding process is a way of showing them in. An impressive onboarding process instils excitement in your new hire, making them eager to begin work.

But, a sub-par onboarding process increases the possibility of the new hire leaving your company. What’s worse, they might leave negative reviews online about the inferior enrolment procedure. A proper onboarding process serves as the nuts and bolts for fastening the new hires to your organisation.

Measure and improve accordingly

Last but not least on the checklist of creative talent sourcing and recruitment strategies is to track and adjust your talent acquisition moves as necessary. You should pay attention to the relevant metrics to find out what’s working and what isn’t.

Find out where the most qualified candidates seem to be hanging out. Identify the engagement method that gets the quickest response from candidates and be sure to use it when possible. Talent acquisition is a continuous process so the strategies need to be refined constantly for optimum results.

Top candidates are in high demand, so you need to be properly prepared and positioned to snatch them off the market the moment they’re available. These talent sourcing and recruitment strategies will help you achieve that.

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