Sourcing Talent

Check out this helpful guide from Christina Pasanen, Talent leader at Notable Capital

Research & Kick-off

Before going directly to sourcing it's important that a sourcer has context for the role. Spending more time on the research phase allows your sourcer to identify the right talent faster. It's easy for sourcing to became a blackhole of information (and too many tabs to count) so creating methodology and structure around the process will set your sourcer up for success.

• Kick off meeting: Make sure that a sourcer is part of any hiring strategy or intake meeting. It's important they are there to calibrate on the profile and set expectations on the market. If possible it's useful to come to the meeting with a few target profiles to align with the hiring manager from day one. Make sure that you are identifying the must-have competencies versus nice-to-haves so that a sourcer knows what is critical to assess on.
• Research & Market Mapping: It's important that a sourcer build out their market map of companies they are targeting and relevant job titles and keywords. I look at this as an insurance policy; if the search hit a standstill we know where they've looked (and where is potentially untapped). A good market map can also be used in the future and will ensure your team is not re-inventing the wheel when a new search kicks off.
• Writing the Job Description: A good JD is key to getting good inbound (and building a great employer brand). Inbound applicants account for the largest channel volume and a clear and compelling JD can ensure that candidates applying are relevant for the role. Here are some tips for writing a good JD. I've also used Textio as a resource to ensure that the language is inclusive and clear.
• Posting the Role: After you have the JD completed make sure that you are posting it on relevant job boards and that your employees are also sharing out open jobs. There are job boards specific to functions, industries, ERGs and universities. If possible track the job boards that are most successful for future reference.

Channels

There are various channels to leverage when sourcing and before going to market with candidate outreach it's important to have a channel strategy. Below are the channels I recommend sourcers leverage when kicking off a new role.

• Referrals: This is the most effective channel; ask the Curebase team for people they know in their network and make referring top of mind (ask new hires about leads/referrals during onboarding). You can also make collecting referrals fun by doing a company-wide session with pizza or making a competition out of it with a prize for the winner. If you don't have a referral bonus program that's also a great incentive.
• Outbound Sourcing: Sourcing candidates via LinkedIn and Google X-ray is where sourcers can best demonstrate their research skills. First make sure they are searching in a systematic way leveraging their market map so they know where they've already searched. The process can be iterative so it's helpful to know what is/is not relevant. Tips: Make sure they are familiar with boolean strings, search filters and tangent sourcing.
• Finding Tech Talent: There are a lot of resources specific to hiring Tech talent. Github, Stack Overflow and tech-specific Slack channels can be great resources for finding technical candidates. You can also look at who has participated in or judged Hackathons for specific languages, geographies or tech stacks.
• Events/Speakers/Meet ups: Another way to identify talent outside of LI is looking at speakers at events, conferences or meet ups. This can help you identify experts in an industry, geography or function. This tends to work better for more senior candidates but it can also be a great resource for leads and market mapping. Board members or advisors can also get you in the right direction.
• Inbound Talent: Inbound is typically the channel with the greatest volume. As such you want to try to make sure that your inbound volume is as relevant as possible. Make sure that you have a clear job description and that you are posting on the relevant job boards. Also make sure the hiring manager and the team are posting the role on their social networks.
• Silver Medalists: this may be less relevant for early stage companies but your CRM/ATS will be a great repository of talent for future roles. If possible, start segmenting and tagging future candidates to save yourself time in the future.
• Internal Candidates: Again, this may be more relevant for the future but internal mobility is a great resource for hiring candidates, the ramp time is less and it increases retention and sentiment around opportunities for growth.

Candidate Engagement

I see good sourcers as one part research and one part sales. Once they've completed the research it's also important they know how to engage and assess good talent. I've listed out a few things that I keep top of mind when sourcing.

• Reach out: Candidates are inundated with reach outs, especially in this current highly competitive talent market. In order to get a candidate's attention it's important to have tailored messages that speaks to that candidate's relevant skillset/experience. It's equally important to keep things brief (I actually believe a little ambiguity/mystery can get a candidate on the phone). Also any mutual connections, whether personal or professional always helps. More tips from LI here.
• The Call: Pitching: If a candidate is cold, a sourcer will need to make sure to have a great pitch in place. It's important to share how the role impacts the company's strategy, what the day-to-day looks like and the value/ethos of the company. A sourcer needs to have good business acumen on the company and function in order to sell the role and answer questions. Keep the pitch brief (~5 min) so you have time to assess. For inbound candidates a higher level pitch should suffice.
• The Call: Assessment: A sourcer should assess a candidate on the criteria established from the kick-off meeting. I keep a template of the questions to ask to make sure I don't miss anything and keep detailed notes in your CRM. This is important for future reference and in case the HM has questions.