Candidate sourcing: 8 strategies and best practices for recruiters

The biggest challenge recruiters face in today’s highly competitive job market is finding great candidates. Gone are the days of sitting back and waiting for the right applications to show up magically. Recruiters have to be proactive, relying on different approaches to talent acquisition, with the goal of reducing time-to-hire and improving the quality of talent pools. By establishing relationships with passive and active prospects, recruiters and hiring managers can build a source of skilled talent ready to match current and future roles. But how do you do that? You need to target the right people. In this guide, we’ll explore candidate sourcing, what it is, and how to use it to find standout talent.

What is candidate sourcing? 

Candidate sourcing is a proactive approach to identifying, attracting, and engaging potential candidates for current and future job openings. This recruiting strategy goes beyond traditional hiring by incorporating advanced HR sourcing strategies to identify promising talent, including those not currently looking for new job opportunities. Organizations can use candidate sourcing to build talent pipelines and fill specialized or hard-to-hire roles more efficiently.

This strategy offers several key benefits. It can help you reduce the time it takes to fill critical roles, ensure a pool of qualified candidates is ready when needed, and enable your hiring team to think ahead. Plus, you can gain a competitive edge by connecting with top talent early. Here are the steps for making candidate sourcing smarter and more effective:

Collect candidate information

Gathering comprehensive professional profiles is a critical first step in candidate sourcing. Recruiters gather information and professional qualifications from various channels, including LinkedIn, professional networks, and specialized platforms, to create candidate profiles and assess their potential fit within the organization. 

Pre-screening candidates with the skills and qualifications that match job vacancies

Next, recruiters evaluate candidates' skills against specific job requirements to match qualifications with organizational needs. This step identifies potential fits for current and future positions. 

Contacting potential talent 

Recruiters use personalized communication strategies to reach out to potential candidates through professional networks and other means. This includes introducing job opportunities to under-the-radar talent.

Build long-term relationships with potential hires

In this step, recruiters build long-term relationships using ongoing engagement with potential talent, regardless of immediate hiring needs. This approach creates and nurtures talent networks by staying connected with professionals who might be valuable candidates down the road. By fostering these connections and staying engaged with potential hires, recruiters create a network of candidates that can be quickly activated when organizational needs arise. 

Sourcing vs. recruiting: key differences

Candidate sourcing and recruiting are often used interchangeably, yet they have distinct differences. Both strategies aim to build skilled teams, but each method accomplishes this goal in its own way. Sourcing strategies focus on identifying and connecting with potential candidates, while recruiting involves engaging with candidates to fill specific roles. Understanding the differences between the two can help you attract the right talent at the right time.

As you can see in the table above, HR sourcing plays an important role in the recruiting process. By proactively building a talent pipeline, candidate sourcing ensures that your company has a pool of pre-screened candidates who are ready to talk to when positions open up. This accelerates the time-to-hire and strengthens candidate quality, as recruiters can focus on considering only highly qualified individuals.

Sourcing also helps lower recruitment costs and supports diversity initiatives by letting companies tap into a wider, more varied talent pool, including passive candidates who may not be looking for a job. By incorporating sourcing into your recruiting strategy, your company can create an efficient hiring process resulting in better hires and a stronger workforce.

The importance of candidate sourcing: 5 benefits

Candidate sourcing plays an essential role in recruitment, adding significant value to businesses of all sizes. By actively seeking out the best talent, you can improve hiring efficiency, strengthen your brand, and create a more diverse and skilled workforce. These are the benefits of effective candidate sourcing.

1. Reducing time to hire

Proactively sourcing candidates helps reduce the time it takes to fill open roles. By creating a talent pipeline, your organization can tap into a pool of qualified candidates ready for consideration, reducing the time and effort spent advertising and searching for new talent. A faster turnaround allows you to avoid costly delays in hiring the right candidate.

2. Improving candidate quality 

With targeted sourcing strategies, you can attract high-quality candidates who not only meet your requirements but also fit well with your company culture. Instead of relying solely on incoming applications, sourcing enables you to find candidates who are a better match for both the role and your company’s long-term goals. This results in better hires that contribute more to your business’s success.

3. Expanding the talent pool

Effective candidate sourcing expands the available talent pool by reaching out to diverse groups and untapped job markets. Organizations can find candidates they might otherwise miss by utilizing a range of platforms, including targeted job boards, industry-specific events, and professional networks. This approach ensures that your company has access to a wide range of skills, experience levels, and backgrounds.

4. Strengthening the business brand

A proactive sourcing strategy positions your business as an attractive employer. Engaging with potential hires early in the process builds a positive job seeker experience and increases your organization’s reputation in the job market. Candidates who see your company as proactive, respectful, and engaging are more likely to share their positive experiences, helping boost your company’s brand.

5. Reducing recruitment costs

Candidate sourcing helps reduce reliance on external recruiting agencies and job boards. By using cost-effective sourcing strategies to build an internal talent pool, you can lower recruitment costs and retain access to qualified candidates without paying high recruiting fees..

4 challenges of candidate sourcing

Organizations face several challenges in sourcing candidates, from managing limited resources to navigating compliance changes. To attract the best talent, you need to address these issues strategically. Below are some common obstacles and practical solutions to overcome them.

1. Budget constraints

Many companies and hiring managers struggle to work within tight budgets, limiting access to premium job boards or advanced recruitment tools.

Solution: Focus on cost-effective strategies, such as leveraging employee referrals or niche job boards for targeted publicity. Collaborating with recruitment agencies on a contingency basis can also help maximize limited resources.

2. Limited talent pool

Finding qualified candidates for some specialized roles often proves difficult due to a smaller talent pool.

Solution: Expand your search criteria to include transferable skills and hire for potential rather than experience, as you can always train the right person. Broaden your reach by recruiting from underrepresented groups or offering remote opportunities to tap into a larger candidate base. If your budget allows, offer generous compensation packages and attractive benefits and perks. 

3. New compliance landscapes 

Evolving labor laws and privacy regulations require organizations to stay vigilant to avoid compliance risks.

Solution: Regularly review and update your knowledge of relevant legislation and consider using an applicant tracking system (ATS) with integrated compliance tools. Ensure your hiring process aligns with current labor and privacy regulations both in the US and globally.

4. Balancing speed and quality

The pressure to fill roles quickly often compromises the quality of hires, resulting in higher turnover or mismatched candidates.

Solution: Streamline your sourcing process with automation tools and pre-screening methods. Establish clear hiring priorities to ensure you balance speed with finding the right person.

How to source candidates: 8 talent sourcing strategies

Finding the best talent takes a combination of strategies. Hiring managers and business leaders can explore different methods to create a strong talent pipeline, including employee referrals, to attract top-notch candidates. By combining traditional techniques with fresh, innovative ideas, you’ll expand your reach and improve your results. Here are eight strategies to help you step up your recruitment game, along with some sourcing examples to consider:

1. Use social media and professional platforms

You can utilize platforms like LinkedIn, mainstream social media, and specialized industry forums to implement effective sourcing strategies and connect with potential candidates. Use these channels to share engaging content about your company and its culture and take advantage of their advanced search tools to find potential hires with the right skills and experience.

2. Include offline recruitment methods

Don't ignore traditional recruitment approaches. Participate in and network at industry-related events. For specific roles or target demographics, print media may still offer value. Consider increasing brand awareness by sponsoring local events or local sports teams to attract local talent.

3. Leverage employee referrals

Create an employee referral program that encourages your team to recommend qualified candidates from their professional networks, a valuable sourcing strategy to tap into existing talent pools. Offer rewards, such as bonuses or extra time off, for successful referrals.

4. Invest in AI recruitment software

Incorporate AI-driven tools into your recruitment process to increase efficiency. The right tools can automate initial candidate screenings, provide responses to frequently asked questions, and identify required skills from resumes. By using AI, you can process large volumes of applications more effectively and improve candidate matching.

5. Engage passive candidates

Reach out to professionals who aren’t actively looking for a job but could be open to new opportunities. Use customized outreach messages highlighting your company’s unique advantages and growth prospects. Hosting webinars can also be a great way to showcase your organization and attract talent.

6. Join and host recruitment events

Take part in or host industry conferences, networking events, and job fairs where you can meet potential candidates in person. These gatherings give you the chance to highlight your company and its opportunities directly. Virtual events can also help you expand your reach nationally or globally. 

7. Browse resume databases

Explore online resume databases and professional networking sites to actively search for candidates. Use Boolean search techniques (more on that below) to narrow down your results and uncover hidden talent. Many job boards and industry-specific groups provide access to extensive resume pools that can help you find qualified candidates.

8. Source candidates for roles you don’t have open yet

Build a skilled talent pipeline by finding and connecting with potential candidates for future openings. Stay in touch with strong applicants not picked for earlier positions and nurture ongoing relationships with professionals in your field, even if you don’t have immediate job openings.

5 talent sourcing tools 

Practical talent-sourcing tools are necessary for businesses looking to streamline their recruitment efforts and find top candidates quickly. These tools help automate and optimize various stages of the sourcing process, improving efficiency and the quality of candidates. Here are several options that can help you source potential hires more effectively:

1. Candidate relationship management (CRM) tools

CRM tools help HR pros build and maintain relationships with passive candidates over time. These platforms allow managers to track candidate interactions, send personalized messages, and nurture a talent pipeline. By staying connected with potential candidates, you can fill positions faster when openings arise.

2. Social sourcing tools

Social sourcing tools give HR managers access to social media platforms to find and reach out to prospective hires. With advanced search filters, these tools allow teams to focus on specific skills, experience, or locations. They’re also great for launching targeted outreach campaigns, increasing the odds of attracting top talent.

3. Boolean search

Boolean search provides a precise way to find candidates by using search operators like AND, OR, and NOT. Managers can use Boolean search to combine keywords for specific skills, qualifications, and experience. This process increases the accuracy of candidate searches, making finding the right fit for a particular role easier.

4. Job boards and aggregators

Job boards like Indeed, Glassdoor, and ZipRecruiter allow organizations to post job openings and access a large pool of candidates. Aggregators pull listings from various job sites, simplifying the process of finding candidates by offering a single platform to search multiple sites. These tools can help target active and passive candidates, improving the likelihood of finding the right match.

5. AI-powered tools

AI-powered tools use machine learning to automate the sourcing process and predict candidate success based on historical data. These tools can scan resumes, match profiles to job descriptions, and suggest potential candidates from job boards and HR-related databases. AI tools save time by reducing manual work and increasing the accuracy of candidate selection.

When choosing candidate sourcing tools, consider factors like your company's size, budget, and recruitment objectives. The right tools should support your hiring needs and integrate with existing HR platforms and systems. Don’t forget to evaluate customer support and training requirements.

How to budget for candidate sourcing processes

Smart budget planning drives productive recruiting by helping companies spend money wisely to find great talent. By investing in the right recruitment channels and technologies, organizations can attract top talent without wasting limited resources. Here’s how to budget for the candidate sourcing process: 

Step 1. Define hiring needs and calculate turnover rates

First, assess your annual hiring requirements, including new positions and replacement workers. This will help you determine your talent acquisition needs and associated financial implications. If your company is on the cusp of a significant expansion, you can adjust your budget accordingly. 

To determine your needs and turnover rates, start by consulting with your HR team and personnel managers to get an estimate of their hiring plans. Next, assess the number of employees who will be leaving the company due to retirement or expiring contracts. Finally, gauge employee turnover based on historical data. 

These calculations will give you insight into staffing requirements and help you allocate your resources. 

Step 2. Calculate your basic sourcing costs

Sourcing costs include the expenses you incur to attract talent. This includes expenses such as job postings, in-house recruitment costs, advertising, and any tools or software used in the sourcing process. Accurately calculating these costs helps keep your recruitment budget in line with your needs. To estimate these costs, you need to look at historical data for job board expenses, internal labor costs, outreach and employer branding, and other associated costs. 

Step 3. Estimate the fixed costs

Fixed costs that you need to budget for include:

• Career fairs and other talent sourcing events (e.g., travel, accommodations, fees)
• Educational partnerships (e.g., on-campus events)
• Recruiting agencies
• Technology costs (e.g., applicant tracking systems, premium social media accounts)
• Miscellaneous and one-off expenses (e.g., updating your website)

By accurately estimating these costs, you can help ensure that your recruitment budget is aligned with your staffing needs and allows for more strategic decision-making.

Easy candidate sourcing with Rippling 

Rippling Recruiting transforms talent acquisition into a seamless, automated process. By integrating comprehensive tools like customizable interview workflows, intelligent scheduling, and feedback management, Rippling enables companies to streamline their entire hiring ecosystem. Rippling’s recruitment management software goes beyond traditional applicant tracking systems by connecting with over 600 apps, posting to thousands of job boards, and providing dynamic insights that help organizations make smarter hiring decisions.

With Rippling, businesses can eliminate administrative headaches and focus on attracting top talent. From headcount planning to candidate communication, Rippling automates critical recruitment steps while maintaining flexibility and compliance.

FAQs on candidate sourcing

How much time should you spend on sourcing?

It depends on the size of your company and its resources. Some estimates show that hiring managers spend up to 50% of their time sourcing candidates. Automating the process can help teams source candidates much faster than manual methods.

Should you ask a passive candidate for a resume before a phone screen? 

No. Research the candidate using LinkedIn, professional profiles, and other publicly available information. Use the phone screen to build rapport and gauge their interest. Asking for a resume beforehand can deter passive candidates. Maintain a relaxed and professional tone during the initial conversation. 

What are the legal considerations in candidate sourcing?

Organizations need to keep on top of various legal considerations when sourcing candidates. You must prevent discrimination, protect candidate privacy, verify work authorization, and maintain fair and transparent hiring practices. 

How does candidate sourcing contribute to diversity and inclusion efforts?

Recruiters can contribute to diversity and inclusion efforts by connecting with underrepresented talent pools through recruitment channels and alliances with diversity-focused organizations. This approach helps organizations create more inclusive teams by expanding their candidate search beyond traditional networks.

This blog is based on information available to Rippling as of December 12, 2024.

Disclaimer: Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.