Digging Into RecruitingBlogs.com v2.08: The Death of Sourcing

(Feb 27, 2009) Sourcing, as currently practiced, is a short term phenomenon. There is money to be made in the field today because the techniques required to find people are arcane and confusing. Additionally, with the strong exception of Avature and Broadlook's products, there are no useful tools for the automation of the process.

Meanwhile people are getting easier and easier to find.

The next waves of innovation in social networks will be all about making the membership accessible to each other. Right now, finding additional network nodes, new friends or interesting potential connections is a black art. You've got to be a Boolean Black Belt. You need a guru. There's an entire consulting industry built on specialized knowledge.

You may rest assured that this situation will not last.

The web is best when it tears down the friction that separates information from the people who need it. The folks who work hard mining data manually today will be flipping burgers in the near future. The skills required to move forward are unlike the ones being taught. Contemporary sourcing is a dead-end occupation with little in the way of transferrable skills.

Next generation recruiting is about relating intimately, not about mutual discovery. It's about fidelity and long term value exchange, not one night stands. It's about data that updates itself because the relationship is constantly working. Finding each other? Easy. Building an enduring relationship? Hard.

For a while, sourcing will be a high dollar, easy pickings income source. But, in the relatively short term, the need for the expertise will evaporate. Former sourcing luminaries will be familiarizing themselves with the alarm on the French fry machine and the relative difference between Rare, Medium and Well done.

Evaporate, as in "What air freshener scent would you like with your car wash?"

So, what do you do if you're a sourcer (or any kind of Recruiter, for that matter)?

Get really good at being a productive member of an online community. Join stuff, volunteer, get experience.
Develop repeatable methods for discovering new communities and joining them.
Develop community management skills (Jason Davis is a good role model).
Stop acting like an email address is a relationship or a list is a community.

I'm on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Friendfeed. Catch up with me.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Recruiting Animal on March 9, 2009 at 6:47pm

Thanks Sandy! See, there's no problem the internet can't handle. But "I imagine his followers are bothering him" would seem to make more sense. Is it possibly that?

El Sr Animal. (I think I'd like to call myself that for awhile).

Sandra McCartt said:

the gentleman is a recruiter in Canada. Imagine his followers are bothering him.
Recruiting Animal said:
What does this mean? Someone wrote it about me on Twitter. I think it's in Spanish.

" El Sr @Animal es un reclutador de Canada. Imaginate que seguidores lo estan molestando a el. "

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Permalink Reply by John Sumser on March 9, 2009 at 8:43pm

Hey Maureen,

The stats are really illuminating.

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Permalink Reply by John Sumser on March 9, 2009 at 8:47pm

And for the stats minded:

Social Networks & Blogs More Popular than Email. These are Neilsen stats.

"More than two-thirds (67%) of the global* online population visits social networks and blogs, and participation in these “member communities” is now the fourth most popular online category - behind search, portals, and PC software, but ahead of personal email use."

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Permalink Reply by Steve Levy on March 9, 2009 at 8:59pm

Even more from the research:

* One in every 11 minutes online globally is accounted for by social network and blogging sites.

* The social network and blogging audience is becoming more diverse in terms of age: the biggest increase in visitors during 2008 to “Member Community” Web sites globally came from the 35-49 year old age group (+11.3 million).

* Mobile is playing an increasingly important role in social networking. Nielsen found UK mobile Web users have the greatest propensity to visit a social network through their handset, with 23 percent (2 million people) doing so, compared to 19 percent in the US (10.6 million people). These numbers are a big increase over last year – up 249 percent in the UK and 156 percent in the US.

The study paper is here - will take a good look at it tomorrow...

John Sumser said:

And for the stats minded:

Social Networks & Blogs More Popular than Email. These are Neilsen stats.

"More than two-thirds (67%) of the global* online population visits social networks and blogs, and participation in these “member communities” is now the fourth most popular online category - behind search, portals, and PC software, but ahead of personal email use."

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Permalink Reply by Maureen Sharib on March 10, 2009 at 7:01am

Correction:
I said: Recently I saw someone say (I think it was in this string) that about 3% of the workforce can be found online. I happen to agree with that estimate.

What Gregory Pankow actually said was:
While only 3% of the workforce may be on linkedin, EVERYONE has a phone at work.
(See why it's important to check your facts?)

Be that as it may, I'd still bet good money that when you shake out and through all the life changes that most people that have landed online have gone through the "average" Internet sourcer would still be hard pressed to "find a name" that bears the requisite characteristics to a particular job search. 3% very well could be the right number. And you know what? 3% could probably be tripled by applying EXPERT Internet search techniques but any way you expand the number, though, it's less than 10% in all probability. Remember what Gregory said:
EVERYONE has a phone at work.

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Permalink Reply by Recruiting Animal on March 10, 2009 at 7:52am

Thanks Sandy for that elaboration. Now I understand. "Imagine! His followers are bothering him." El Sr Animal es loco, no?

Sandy I like the spunk you've exhibited on this thread. Maybe you'd like to be a guest on The Recruiting Animal Show. You can check it out here. (It isnt for everybody but it may be for you.

Sandra McCartt said:

That translates to just a statement. Using the lo in there it could mean Imagine it, his followers are bothering him. If it were I imagine the word would be imangino. Don't know exactly what the commenter meant but i would take it, "This guy is a Canadian recruiter, Imagine it, his followers are bothering him. Or "This man is a canadian recruiter, imagine (sarcastic shock or feigned surprise), his followers are bothering him."

Recruiting Animal said:
Thanks Sandy! See, there's no problem the internet can't handle. But "I imagine his followers are bothering him" would seem to make more sense. Is it possibly that?

El Sr Animal. (I think I'd like to call myself that for awhile).

Sandra McCartt said:
the gentleman is a recruiter in Canada. Imagine his followers are bothering him.
Recruiting Animal said:
What does this mean? Someone wrote it about me on Twitter. I think it's in Spanish.

" El Sr @Animal es un reclutador de Canada. Imaginate que seguidores lo estan molestando a el. "

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Permalink Reply by Geri Kleeman on March 10, 2009 at 10:10am

Sorry, no full life cycle recruiting is MUCH more than that. That is just the very first step in the process.

Jason Yillik Telephone Researcher jyillik@suncoastdata.com said:

Perhaps the sourcers will inherit the earth and begin filling the positions themselves. Is that too much of a stretch? Isn't recruiting basically locating, identifying and attracting? A lot of sourcers do that now when they make the initial calls into candidates. The rest is just putting a little more sizzle into the mix and administrativia. A Manager (broker) can assist them with monkey wrenches if they pop-up. Maybe the revolution will begin at 6% fees like realtors. This is a perfect economy to assemble the sourcing militia.

The recruiters may want to sharpen their beer selection skills their new job at Outback. Foster's is a brilliant choice to accompany the Kookaburra Wings.

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on March 10, 2009 at 11:28am

Is this now the "Offical Discussion" for RBC? If so I'm glad to be a part of it.......:)

So what is the topic now? Percentage of hires from Social Media?

The difference between sourcing and "real" work? (...that was for you Maureen!)

I do find it so very interesting how much effort is put into "where did this person come from" and yet so very little (Industry-wide) is discussed about what you actually DO or SAY once that person is identified. Anyone in the recruiting "trenches" knows (or should know) what I mean.......

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Permalink Reply by Steve Levy on March 10, 2009 at 11:43am

Karen my statistically challenged friend... this is the Holy Grail of Sourcing and the best survey so far is still conducted by Mark and Gerry. The problem here is that recruiters on both sides of the aisle are measurement-challenged; what you're asking for is desperately needed - yet putting into practice is like getting a teenager to clean up their room or keeping your cat off the dark furniture...

We're moving in this direction but our many in our profession prefer to think that their intuition speaks correctly 100% of the time. Why aren't these people playing the ponies instead????

Moving on...

I know More people who have not ever gotten a job from a job board, than had.. in fact, I can think of every recruiter who utilizes the job boards or have candidates in their database.. think about it. Gotta tell you but using your sample to generalize to the entire population is bad statistics.

"...but I do have my own website where candidates apply directly, and i sure wish that I placed the majority of those who contacted me.. don't you?" I guess this assumes that the majority of these people are the kinds of candidates companies want. ;)

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Permalink Reply by Steve Levy on March 10, 2009 at 11:46am

Very true Jerry but even this has its problems - my favorite is when a recruiter says they can sense a great candidate. Interview pheromones?? Gosh if nothing else pick up one of the Dummies books before you anoint yourself an expert in recruiting [fill in the blank].

Jerry Albright said:

Is this now the "Offical Discussion" for RBC? If so I'm glad to be a part of it.......:)

So what is the topic now? Percentage of hires from Social Media?

The difference between sourcing and "real" work? (...that was for you Maureen!)

I do find it so very interesting how much effort is put into "where did this person come from" and yet so very little (Industry-wide) is discussed about what you actually DO or SAY once that person is identified. Anyone in the recruiting "trenches" knows (or should know) what I mean.......

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Permalink Reply by Recruiting Animal on March 10, 2009 at 11:55am

This is the greatest discussion ever on Recruitingblogs.com (next to my discussion with Karen from last year).

Maureen is there a chat today? I'm there but nobody else is. And while we're at it, what are you having for lunch? (Jerry it's the new Twitter)

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Permalink Reply by Maureen Sharib on March 10, 2009 at 12:06pm

No, we're not having chat until I can find a chat that can be copied out -the information imparted is just too valuable to let it time off every 15 minutes...many people come to the site specifically to read the logs as they cannot attend the "classes" at the specific T and TH noon times that they are set to. WATCH for a new chat product - I'm determined to find one - and maybe even a NEW setting for the chats!
Lunch: grapefruit