In the coming years, there's going to be phenomenal change in terms of how recruiters/companies source for candidates. Just the way traditional newspaper job ads were replaced by Internet job boards, there will be major shift in the ways and means of sourcing. Given below are few of my predictions around how sourcing channels are going to change…No I am not clairvoyant I am just a recruitment consultant who says things as it is..

1. Job Boards will go under the scalpel
Yes, you read it right. I don’t mean to denigrate the usefulness of job boards. They still will exist but definitely not in the same form and shape. They got to change. The problem with the Job boards is companies will increasingly perceive that active candidates hanging around in job boards as C players who are not "HOT" and who do not have either enough performance credentials or enough contacts to find themselves a job they dream. May be they will give links to the candidates profile on the other social networks. May be they will give ratings to the candidates. May be they will allow recommendations to be attached as part of the resumes... I cant predict from here which way the wind will blow... but its going to change the direction in someway or other.

2. Social Media Recruitment
The loss of job boards is the gain of social networks. Passive candidates will get as much attention now as the active candidates. Recruiters will be forced to use Social Media networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo, Zoominfo, as they will be the new bastions of talent pools. No I am not talking about just having an Id and posting Job Descriptions. That will not get them any where. What they have to do is "listen", converse and interact with the talent. Which means that they would have to read stuff written in the groups, they would have to post questions, answer queries to make the top talent sit up and listen.

3. Employment Branding
Companies will increasingly put their efforts into employment brand building. They got to. They don't have a choice. Their career sites, their PR, their Job Ads, all would need to carry a strong employment branding message. Companies will have to talk about to the candidate pools about the benefits, values, or attitudes of the company so as to make sure it is attracting the right talent and repelling the candidates who don't fit their culture.

4. University Relations
Campus Recruitment is out, that’s old thinking. University Relations is in and it’s the new paradigm. You will see companies approaching the colleges right at the beginning of the year rather than just before the students pass out. Companies will partner with the colleges, collaborate and reap the benefits. To have a seamless integration what is needed is long terms efforts & yearlong investment and not a quick fix solution of campus hiring in October/November. Summer Internships & Regular Internships will grow. Companies will track the top students throughout the year, mentor and coach and build relations.

It’s no more a question of reaching candidate pool deep and wide, the success mantra now boils down to reaching top talent. If your sourcing techniques are not tailored around this then you are going to miss your bull’s eye by a mile.