Most people are familiar with the recruiting and sourcing terminology, but how often do we as Recruiter’s and Sourcer’s stop to 

think about the techniques and increase our knowledge about the latest developments in our chosen field.

We have chosen our preferred profession and we also use the terminology but how many of us can actually say that we understand everything? So here are some “Little Known Facts about Recruiting and Sourcing” that you might not be aware off. So let’s begin with a basic understanding of what Recruiting and Sourcing means.

Meaning of Recruiting and Sourcing

As mentioned earlier in our previous blog, “Sourcing vs Recruiting - Is there any difference?” Recruiting comprises of the entire process of hiring right from the searching for a suitable candidate to introducing the new joiner’s to the company staff,  while Sourcing is but a part of the initial process involved in recruiting. It is basically a technique used for talent acquisition involving identification, assessment and engagement of the preferred candidate.  So let’s find out more about recruiting and sourcing.

Techniques of Sourcing                       

Just like recruiting even sourcing has two clearly defined techniques namely Primary or Phone Sourcing and Secondary or Internet Sourcing. Aside from these ones there are other techniques like Push Activities, Pull Activities, Proactive and Reactive Techniques which can be classified into either of the ones already mentioned or both.

Primary or Phone Sourcing

As the name suggest it is a technique to uncover information about potential candidates such as their name, role, job title and responsibilities all with minimum personal contact with the applicant. When you hear people use terms like "Phone Sourcers" or "Phone Name Generator" or "Telephone Names Sourcer” “Phone Sourcers" or "Phone Name Generator" or "Telephone Names Sourcer" they are referring to the use of this technique. But it is not a widely practiced recruiting technique. Here the candidates are usually contacted via the telephone and are asked a series of questions.

Secondary or Internet Sourcing

This is another technique that most Sourcer’s use and is a widely used one at that. It requires the knowledge and use of Boolean Search Strings that are entered into a search engine like Google, Bing etc. Once entered the search engines pull up all the results that adequately match the search.

Push Activities

This technique is used to reach out to the target audience by headhunting, HTML mailers, and referral follow ups etc.

Pull Activities

These activities include people coming to know about a job vacancy on their own. Here the recruiter may advertise on the company website, or via social networking sites or in newspapers, flyers or leaflets and through posts on job portals.

Proactive Techniques

Recruiters  who are also Sourcer’s  use this method try to capture passive candidates if they suit the job profile. The term passive is used to highlight the ones who are least active, if at all. Here Sourcers make use of Boolean Search Strings. These strings can be entered into any Search engine that supports them namely , Google, Bing, Yahoo and even popular job boards like Naukri.com and its counterparts. Sometimes they are even search within an individual ATS or a database of applicants.  These individuals also make use of social networking site tools to source talented individuals. And phone sourcing also known as cold sourcing is another technique that these individuals implement.

Reactive Techniques 

Recruiter’s using this technique search for candidates who have applied for positions through corporate agencies or agency websites, who have come via employee referrals, employment agencies and career fairs.

These are but  some of the techniques that are used, so now that your knowledge of  recruiting and sourcing has improved, I guess it’s safe to say that you now know more about Recruiting and Sourcing. So why wait, go ahead and implement these new techniques to speed up your recruiting process, nonetheless.