During the pursuit of great candidates, ask yourself these questions:

Do candidates know you? Do they like you? Do you stay in regular contact with your candidates even if they don’t get the job? Do they come to you and a knowledgeable resource when it comes to employment?  

If not – congratulations, you are “just like everyone else.”

Finding resumes is easy; finding talent is not. Successful sourcers are doing they things that those “like everyone else” do not want to do. They take the time to partner with their candidates. “Employee Engagement” is a huge focus for companies.  They know there isn’t enough talent out there to they want to keep them engaged.  To quote Wikipedia:

“An engaged employee is one who is fully absorbed by and enthusiastic about their work and so takes positive action to further the organization's reputation and interests.”

On the sourcing side the engagement of candidates means building Candidate Collaboration. Through being consistent, trustworthy and honest you can build such a relationship. Once you have  candidate collaboration, a candidate so positive about the candidate/sourcer relationship that they willingly and enthusiastically refer people they know that could fit your need. Here is a few ways to influence candidate collaboration.

The Friend Factor:

“ A good way to judge people is by observing how they treat those who can do them absolutely no good. ” — Malcom Forb

Lay a foundation of trust when speaking to candidates. Give consistent and constant affirmation that your goal is understand their job needs and wants and ALWAYS stay in touch. Be a ambivert.

The Vision Statement:

“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.” – Jonathon Swift

All people want to feel needed and important. Help inspire your candidates by reaffirming that you feel strongly about their ability to contribute to the company they COULD be working for.  It’s the old fashioned WIIFM!                                   

Be “That Guy”:

“Be the only one. Be your own adjective. Be ubiquitous. Be transparent.” – Scott Ginsberg

Don’t be like everyone else. When top talent starts passively looking for new opportunities, be the obvious choice of whom they should call. When candidates Google “jobs” be the first thing that pops up! Find your uniqueness and use it to set you apart. (Remember uniqueness does not equal weirdness!)

Finding resumes is easy; finding talent is hard. Harder still can be candidate collaboration – but that is why we get paid the big bucks. You never can tell what job order you will get down the road; that is why you must be proactive. Reactive sourcing is painful. By being a “friend,” creating the vision and having the reputation as the go to sourcer, you will be the sourcing hero.